Green Legacy
by Dragongem17
Summary: Lloyd Garmadon, Ninjago's #1 most wanted criminal. Sometime in the last few years, Lloyd has done something that instantly made him a criminal, hunted by everyone and with only his small and loyal group of friends to help him in his fight. Pursued by Emperor Garmadon and the people he used to call friends, can he convince the whole of Ninjago that he is their greatest protector?
1. Ninjago’s most wanted

The shadow dropped from the rooftop and onto an empty street, looking both ways before stealthily sprinting across. As it passed by a street lamp, an onlooker would have seen a glint of bright green in its eyes.

...

Harumi was only a child when her parents died. It had taken a while to get over the pain of rejection, but now she was part of a crime-fighting task force that hunted down and put in prison vigilantes to the end of keeping Ninjago safe. Right now, all of her attention was being focused on finding the current vigilantes who are at large and calling themselves, 'the Ninja'. This is so a full-time job she chuckled to herself, striding down the halls of the palace where the emperor lived. As one of the highest-ranking officials in the land, she had the opportunity to report directly to the emperor himself, a great task that though it didn't require much skill, it was still a great privilege to be able to talk directly with the man who was in charge of the future of Ninjago. All in all, very exciting.

Harumi checked her clipboard then her watch to be sure she was on time, then showed her badge to the guards.

"Come in miss Harumi, his majesty has been expecting you." The guard in front knew who she was and obligingly opened up the door for her, stepping in front to announce her.

"Ah yes, Harumi! It is good to see you." the emperor gave her a hug, which she willingly returned.

"How are you sir?" she asked politely, and he laughed,

"Oh as good as one can be given the circumstances. Any update on the ninja?"

She shook her head, "unfortunately, Lloyd has been keeping himself hidden and only making a bit of trouble in far off places. By the time we get there, he's gone."

He sighed, seeming to ponder something. "Who have we sent out so far to find them?"

Harumi shook her head, "not very many people, but the fact is that they've been trained to be practically invisible and impossible to find. We don't have anyone who could find them easily."

He tapped a finger against the smooth mahogany of his desk, "what if we sent in Skylor, Zane, and Jay? They were trained like the vigilantes. They may be able to find them."

"All due respect sir, but they're currently deployed elsewhere. We simply can't spare—"

"You can and you will. Lloyd and his band of criminals must be found and brought to justice for their crimes against Ninjago. Who better to find them than those trained like them? I insist you bring them back from wherever you deployed them and get them to work finding Lloyd immediately."

Harumi bit her lip, then bowed, "as you wish, Emperor Garmadon."

**A/N: This was an idea I suddenly had. Yes, I did retcon Harumi back in, but only because the love story between her and Lloyd is just so good without her being evil. The next chapter will be on Lloyd and his gang, so be ready for that in the next few days ;)**


	2. As the rain falls down

It was raining very hard. Lloyd tilted his head up to catch as many drops as he could on his face. Nya had offered to stop the rain or at least slow it down a little, but since he liked it so much, he'd come up with the excuse that it was a good cover for them.

Kai ran out from the cave they were sheltering in, carrying a scarf that he held over his head in an attempt to stop from getting wet. It wasn't working. "Why are you standing out here getting yourself soaked?" He asked, flinching as a drop hit his head.

Lloyd turned to face him, water streaming down his blonde hair and making him shiver from the delightful coldness, "Because I like the rain. Also because I'm making sure no one is after us right now."

Kai laughed, "Lloyd, no one would be stupid enough to come after us in this weather. Either way, we are going to be making some plans for the next few days and it's helpful if your there."

Lloyd sighed, "Yeah, give me a minute. I'll be right in." Kai turned and left and Lloyd brushed his wet hair out of his face, trying to enjoy the last bits of wetness before they got upset and tried to haul him inside by his ear. Being on the run all the time had certainly given him a new appreciation for any place they stayed at for more than 2 or 3 days. They had been hiding out in the cave for almost 5 days now, and when they inevitably left, he was gonna miss it. They were extremely far away from any civilization, but the emperor has had his soldiers chasing them almost since Lloyd had begun to resist his rule, so even far away from anyone else, they had to be ready to leave at any moment, even though Kai had a point, most people weren't as crazy as Lloyd to be hunting them in the rain.

"Lloyd! Come on we've got food!" Nya yelled from the cave, her voice successfully reaching his ears.

"Coming!" He yelled back, turning from the falling rain to the nice, cozy cave they were taking shelter in.

"Ugh, you're making a mess all over the floor," complained Nya, who was always insistent that they keep the places they stayed clean, even the caves that they frequently hid in. "Go dry off somewhere." She ordered him, turning back to where they had a fire going (thanks to Kai) and she was cooking soup.

"Nya, where do you want him to dry off? Outside? It's soaking wet out there." Cole polished his hammer, examining all the impurities in the metal.

Nya groaned, "Of course I didn't mean outside, that would be no use, but I prefer him to go dry off somewhere elsewhere at least he won't—"

Lloyd tiptoed off, going away to dry off before he got another tongue lashing from Nya. He shook out his hair and come back into the main room, where Nya was scolding Cole, who was looking distinctly embarrassed and Kai was laughing in the corner. This was his group of people who had stuck by him even when he'd seemed to have gone off his rocker and become completely wacked. These people had decided that in the end, they were willing to face years in Kryptarium Prison just because they believed that he was worthy of their devotion and loyalty. It was a big responsibility.

"Ok guys, can we eat please? I'm starved." Cole complained, getting up and striding over to where the soup was simmering, "Mmmmm, yummy."

"No touchy!" Nya exclaimed, smacking his arm, "Everyone has to have some before you can have seconds."

"Oh c'mon Nya, there's plenty there. I only got a little bit."

"No way, me, Kai and Lloyd have to have firsts, and then you can have seconds. Fine?"

"Fine," Cole grumbled, sitting despondently back down where he had been sitting before and watching Nya dish out portions for everyone else.

"Hey, it's not that bad. Look on the bright side, Lloyd doesn't ever have seconds, so you can have thirds!" Kai excitedly exclaimed, clapping Cole on the back. Cole's face lit up and Lloyd started laughing, "Of course I'm going to have my whole portion! What makes you think—?"

Cole held out a hand, "Shhh."

"What?"

"I heard something. Everyone listen up."

Kai closed his eyes, "I don't hear anything, just the rain and—oh snap. C'mon guys, we've got to go! Now!"

Lloyd blinked, "Um what's going—"

"There are people right near here, we've got to go!" Kai exclaimed.

Lloyd took charge automatically, "Nya, dump out the soup. Kai, kill the fire. Cole, grab our stuff. I'll start looking for another way out."

Everyone rushed around to do their tasks. Lloyd grabbed a torch from the wall and began to move back further into the cave, searching for a way out of there. It didn't take long for everyone else to join him, but at that time, everyone heard the mercenaries enter the cave. Immediately, they all jumped onto a ledge and sat tight, listening as the mercenaries began to search for them.

"Hey, they might 'ave sheltered in here."

"Seems as good a place as any." replied the other mercenary.

Nya stifled a gasp, and Lloyd knew what it was about. The second mercenary who had spoken was Samurai X, the best mercenary in the game. He shouldn't be surprised, there was a lot of money on his head, enough to make anyone rich, it was honestly no wonder that the best was searching for him. The only thing he couldn't find out was how in the world they had not found him before this.

"Oi X, look over here. Footprints!"

They all glared at Kai, who smacked his forehead in dismay.

"Let me have a look at those." Everyone held their breath as Samurai leaned over the footprints, examining them. "You idiot, those are animal footprints!"

"Animal footprints! They can't be! Those are person footprints."

"Well, I say they're animal footprints, and as I am the expert here and you are not," The sound of dust getting wiped over with a foot reached their ears, "I say we move on to the next cave."

"You must be wrong because those are—"

Samurai drew out his sword fast and held it to the other man's throat, "I. Am. Never. Wrong. Understand?"

"Yes-yes, sir. Ma'am. Sir. I didnae say you were wrong, no siree."

The sword retracted back into its sheath, "I thought not. Let's move out."

Lloyd, Nya, Kai, and Cole breathed a sigh of relief as the footsteps went away, then Cole rounded on Kai, "Kai! What in the name of the first Spinjitzu master were you thinking? You could have gotten us killed and Lloyd captured. You—you—I don't even know what to say to you anymore."

"I forgot ok? In our rush to get up here, I completely forgot to wipe away my footprint. But look on the bright side, Samurai X is not as smart as we all thought he was, as he just assumed that was an animal footprint. Amateur." he snorted, jumping down to the ground.

Lloyd shook his head, "No way, Samurai X is not an amateur. I think he—let us go"

"Let us go? Lloyd, he's a mercenary! Mercenaries don't just 'let people go'; they capture them and turn them in for money." Cole argued, "I doubt any good mercenary would turn down the chance to bring the Green Ninja in, much less kill anyone with him."

Nya stepped closer to Lloyd, "Why do you think she let us go?"

Lloyd ran his fingers through his hair, "I think Pixal was trying to show me how easily she can find me."

"Oh yeah, forgot Samurai X is Pixal, considering how many times she's almost murdered us," Kai mumbled, trying in vain to fix his hair.

"Either way, if she did just save our lives, we have to get out of here. Nobody said that she'd not tell someone where we are, just to make us run."

Nya's eyes went wide all of the sudden, "Hey what time is it do you think?"

"Maybe around 9. Why do you ask?" Cole replied.

"I have to leave. I'll catch up later." She yelled over her shoulder.

"Wait! Nya! Where are you going?" Kai yelled after her, but she was already too far away to hear him. "How will she know how to find us?" He asked despondently.

Lloyd shrugged, "Dunno, but either way, as long as she comes back and doesn't get herself captured, I don't care. We've got to leave either way... unless, either of you has somewhere to be?" They both shook their heads, "Cool, thought not. Let's go"

When they both turned away to grab their things, he turned towards the exit of the cave, "Don't stay away too long." He whispered, not sure if it was to Nya or someone else far away from where he was.


	3. Lover’s tryst

Nya's breaths came in short, quick gasps as she ran due south towards her very urgent meeting. She felt bad for leaving Kai, Cole, and Lloyd behind, but they trusted her enough to let her go as she needed. Her hood hit her back in an uncomfortable way, the armor that was necessary to keep her brain protected making a bruise that was sure to last for a few days.

The place she was traveling to was only a few miles away, a garden where it would be unlikely that she would be observed. As she ran, the rain ran down her long hair. _I__t's a good thing that I don't mind getting wet, _she laughed to herself, _or else I shouldn't be the__ water ninja._

Hearing the sound of a wagon, she crossed from the side of the road to where there was a bunch of bushes. She dove into them and watched as an old man passed by with a wagon. When he finally passed, she checked her position and began jogging again, making sure that her heading was correct every few minutes.

It took almost half an hour to arrive. When she got there, she stealthily snuck up the fence and into the garden, contemplating the stone wall in front of her before vaulting over it.

"Nya? Nya?" a voice whispered, "Are you here yet?"

"Jay!" she exclaimed in a whisper, her heart rate suddenly speeding up, "Where are you at?"

"Hey, Nya."

When a shock of carefully curled red hair appeared over the hedge, she could have sworn that romantic music started playing.

Jay blinked a few times in confusion, "Uh where did that music come from?" At Nya's shrug, he continued, "Let's go to the middle, at least there we won't be interrupted, no one makes it to there without cheating." He chuckled, extending his hand for her to take, which she did, "How's the gang?" He asked after he pulled her up to the top of the hedge and they were running towards the middle.

Nya and Jay have been seeing each other in secret for almost a year. No one else, as far as they knew, knew about their meetings, and they had both decided that for both of their safety, they could not tell their respective teammates. It was a bit difficult to be able to find a place to meet since Jay frequently got reassigned to other places in Ninjago. Still, they had made it work so far, and no one knew, so they both considered that a win.

"They're doing ok, Kai and Cole are now constantly at each other's throats, and Lloyd...well I think Lloyd's depressed, to be honest. This is not easy on him and he's too young to have to be worrying about everything he's worried about."

Jay nodded, "You know, this is the 4th anniversary since we split up, I think everyone's feeling it." He paused, "Even on our side."

Nya leaned over and kissed Jay, "I know. Still won't see my side?"

He laughed, "Still won't tell me where you're hiding out?"

"Of course not! I trust you, but not that much. I don't know if you might be coerced into giving up THAT information."

"That's true. It's probably a good thing you won't tell me, as a part of our military, I'm required by law to give up any information that is required, which includes any locations where the rebels might be. So don't tell me."

Nya sat up from the bench where she had been laying down and Jay had been playing with her hair, "Did you hear that? It sounded like...footsteps."

Jay sat up to listen too, then his face began to show alarm, "Nya you have to go, right now, someone knows that you're here. I don't know how but I think they're coming to get you."

"Come with me please, we still have a few hours before you have to go back, we can go and explore somewhere. I don't get to see you very often and I'm not going to let this be cut short."

Jay's face showed indecision, then hardened as he made up his mind, "Ok, let's go."

They both got up and vaulted up the hedge one at a time, beginning to dart towards where they could get out. "This way, it'll be easier to get out over here," Jay whispered, leading the way. Behind them, the sound of footsteps was getting a lot louder. Nya jumped at the sound of a gunshot, "Nya Smith! We know you're here, come out with your hands up and we won't need to resort to drastic measures," ordered a commanding voice, obviously trying to scare her.

Jay grabbed her hand and held on tight, not letting her go, "No way, either way, I'd have to leave beforehand. You're not giving yourself up, who knows what they'd do to make you tell them where Lloyd, Kai, and Cole are. They'd also try something stupid, like trying to break you out. No way."

Nya swallowed and followed Jay towards the edge of the maze, where she'd be able to leave hopefully without the people noticing.

"Down here," he whispered, and they both climbed down carefully, trying their best to not ruffle the branches too much. Finally, they were home free to get out of there, running towards the forests of Ninjago. Behind them suddenly, the sound of the feet began to chase them, though still far off. Nya knew deep down that they would catch them and there was nothing she could do about it. Jay looked back behind them and fell back, pushing Nya on ahead. "Keep running Nya, I'll hold them off. Don't look back, I'll see you next week at you know where."

Nya turned around and kissed him, "Be safe Jay."

He smiled at her, "Now don't listen to anything I say to you." He pushed her ahead then yelled, "Quick men, I see her." She heard the crackling of electricity, then, on instinct, threw water back at him. She heard him splutter when the water hit him full in the face, then she sped up, sprinting for the forest. She reached the tree line and ran for a bit longer until she almost collapsed. Gulping down air, she turned back around and stealthily snuck back to where she had last heard them. When she got there, she heard Jay snap, "We aren't finding her, unfortunately. Let's set up camp here and wait it out," He laughed, a harsh sound that she didn't recognize at all, "Besides, she might be stupid enough to come back here."

One of the soldiers came up to him and snapped to attention, "How are you sure that she might come back?" he gulped at Jay's withering glare, "All due respect of course sir."

Jay sat back in the chair that had been placed behind him, "Considering her and I used to be together, I should think I know her better than you, wouldn't I? Ugh, I hate her and all of those 'ninja' as they call themselves. That's why I was quite happy to be reassigned here, for the purpose of hunting down and exterminating that scum from Ninjago."

The way he said 'used to be together' almost broke her heart. He'd often lamented at breaking up with her in the first place. If she didn't know better, she might have thought that he honestly meant it. He just said it with so much hatred and disgust in his voice, she wondered if this was just a mask he had to put on, or if the Jay she knew, the one who'd saved her life out a bit under a year ago for the express purpose of showing that he still cared about her, was the mask he'd put on. Turning, she darted out from under the shrub that she'd been hiding in and headed toward their newest hideout, pulling on her hood to try and distill the fears beginning to rise in her.


	4. The truth

Jay nervously flexed his hands, standing outside of the throne room where'd he'd been summoned. It had been 2 days after his meeting with Nya, and he thankfully hadn't heard anything from her. It was strange to him, however, that he'd been called to the palace.

Hearing the sound of heels clicking on the smooth marble floor, he got up from his seat. Harumi smiled at him, "Jay! It's very good to see you!"

"Harumi! It has been a long time. Do you work here now?"

"I do. If you'll follow me please, Emperor Garmadon is ready for you."

Jay followed her down the halls, his mind spinning with all the memories he had involving her and Lloyd. _I bet that Lloyd doesn't even know she's still alive; it seems to me that she doesn't appear on television that often_. When they arrived at two gigantic double doors, Jay found himself checking his hair to make sure it was properly ruffled, _oh great now I'm like Kai, always making sure his hair is right._

Harumi knocked on the door and waited until a voice bid her enter. "Just a sec, I'll let him know you're ready."

She slipped into the room and closed the door, leaving Jay with his thoughts. He closed his eyes, feeling one of the flashbacks that he got all the time coming.

* * *

_4 years earlier_

Jay was watching Lloyd stare off the side of the Destiny's Bounty. It had been a day since Garmadon took over and already tensions were running high. Lloyd, Cole, and Kai for certain were under the impression that Garmadon was up to no good. Everyone else believed that maybe this time he was honestly trying to help. To tell the truth, Jay wasn't sure what side he was on. He had said that he was for Garmadon, but Garmadon had tried to kill them multiple times before. Whatever he would end up thinking, at this point, he and Nya both considered themselves neutral, though he had the sinking feeling that neutral would soon no longer work as an excuse to not state his feelings in the matter. Garmadon had already expressed his interest in having the ninja be an elite force for the protection of Ninjago, but Lloyd had argued that while they were already functioning as Ninjago's main protectors, being underneath the umbrella of the government would not be a good idea. _I wish I could see the future, if only because I want to know what the best choice is, _he thought miserably, turning away from Lloyd, _if I knew, I'd at least know what the consequences would be for each choice. _Jay felt deep down that he would not be able to stay neutral for much longer. A war was brewing.

* * *

_Present-day_

Jay was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Harumi clearing her throat. "The emperor is ready for you to come in."

He followed her into the room, barely glancing at the fine decorations and lavish furniture. When he reached the throne where the emperor was sitting, he bowed deeply, hating the movement.

"Ah yes, Jay, the master of lightning. How good to see you again."

"Uh, you as well, your—majesty. How's the back?" he coughed, feeling like he'd just said the wrong thing, "Uh I meant the kingdom."

Garmadon chuckled, "Both are well thank you. I summoned you here to ask some questions about what you were doing two days ago."

Jay gulped nervously, trying to move as imperceptibly as possible, "Well when I woke up that morning, I had the strange craving for some of Zane's cooking, so I walked over to his tent for some of his wonderful stew from the night before. Then after that was done I—"

"I didn't mean your activities during the day, I meant what you were doing near the coast when your station at that time was very far inland." While he was saying all of this, he kept a face of perfect indifference on, while Jay felt like his extremely expressive face showed all the panic and scrambling for an excuse that would be found acceptable.

"I had—heard reports of one of the rebels being in the area and I hoped to catch them before Zane or Skylor could. We have this contest going on you see. Ask anyone, it's common knowledge."

Garmadon set down his cup of tea and leaned forward, "Perhaps I should invite Zane and Skylor in to hear about this contest, I'm sure they'll be very interested to hear about this if your lying."

Jay resisted the urge to bite his lip nervously. They were both sure to call his bluff, no way that they would have any reservations doing so. He would only have to hope that he'd be able to go out with a bang.

Garmadon, still watching him, leaned to Harumi and ordered, "Harumi my dear, call in Zane and Skylor please, I need to talk to them both."

Harumi bowed, casting a suspicious gaze on Jay, who stared her down. The few minutes, while she was getting them, was probably the most awkward minutes of Jay's entire life. It was a complete relief when the doors opened and in strode Zane and Skylor. Even though he knew that they were about to call his bluff and turn him in, Jay felt that relief that he only felt when surrounded by members of his team. Zane did not seem surprised at all by Jay's presence, but Skylor's surprise was painfully obvious. She seemed about to speak but was cut off by the Emperor. "Zane and Skylor. Master of ice and master of Amber, welcome. Jay here has told me that you have a contest going on for who can capture and take in the first rebel. Is this correct?"

Jay glanced toward Zane, who blinked, confused as to why he was being asked this question. _Please _he mouthed, hoping Zane or Skylor saw him.

Thankfully, Skylor did see his plea, "It's true your majesty. We all have a contest for the first rebel we can get." she grimaced, "It would seem that so far, Jay is winning, being the first one to get even close to one of them." she turned to Jay, "Which one was it anyway? I hope it was Kai" she muttered, clearly still resentful at him for choosing the opposite side.

Zane quickly got the idea, "Yes, so far, our contest had not gone forward, but Jay has just placed himself in the lead with his almost capture of—"

"It was Nya," Jay answered, feeling his heart rate rise a bit from saying her name.

"Nya then. As it stands, I had been unsure that Jay was going to end up doing anything in the contest, and yet, here we are." finished Zane.

Garmadon stroked his chin. Jay hoped against all hope that he would fall for it. At last, he nodded his head slowly, "Fine, it does seem that you were telling the truth, but I would suggest that unless you want it to seem suspicious, you ought to not go chasing rebels away from where you are stationed. You are dismissed."

They all bowed and walked out, leaving Harumi and Garmadon in the throne room. After the door closed behind them, Jay started to try to talk to them, but Zane held up a hand, "I would suggest not talking right now Jay; you never know who may be listening."

Jay took the hint and followed them out past the gardens and into a hall that had a lot of storage rooms. Skylor glanced both ways and then quickly darted into a room, motioning Jay to follow her. Zane scooted in, keeping a watch at the door until he slowly closed it.

Skylor slammed Jay against a wall, holding him by the collar of his gi, "What the heck was all that about a contest? What are you up to?"

Jay shook his head, "Honestly Skylor, it's none of your business! I just needed you two to cover for me. Thank you for that by the way."

"I think it's our right to know what's going on with you, considering we just saved your sorry butt from being thrown in jail. Now spill it."

Jay shook his head but Zane added in, "We could always go to Harumi and tell her we were lying and that there was no such contest."

Jay's eyes went wide, "Ok fine! I wasn't there to hunt Nya I was there to—"

"You'd better tell the truth blue boy, or I'll gut you like a fish." threatened Skylor.

Jay swallowed hard, "I was there to see her."

Zane cocked his head, "Are you meaning to imply that you abetted her escape as well?"

"Abetted?" Jay questioned, still waiting for Skylor to release him.

"It means aided in her escape." Skylor told him, "And why are you seeing her? She's a traitor, they all are. Just by associating with her has made you a traitor yourself. You could get executed for this.

Jay shook his head, "I didn't say that I completely agree with everything that she does, but—I really like her. And I'm not gonna let some political differences get in the way of us seeing each other. Will you guys please not tell anyone?"

Skylor and Zane exchanged a glance, and Jay could see Zane running numbers in his head. At last, they both nodded their agreement.

"Does anyone from her team know?"

"She hasn't told them, and I wouldn't have told you except that you were kinda threatening to choke the life out of me."

Skylor smiled grimly, "Well, I didn't know what you were planning. It's a good thing I ended up covering for you, it would not have been good if you had been executed and Lloyd decided to attack the capitol. Either way, now that we know, what are you gonna do about it?"

Jay collapsed into a chair, trying to think, "I don't think I'll tell her that you guys know, it might make her feel like she has to tell Lloyd, Cole, and Kai. But I honestly wish I knew the real reason we were all restationed in Ninjago city anyways. There's a reason why the emperor would bring us all here besides questioning me on why I was there."

Zane shrugged, "I know no more than any of you, however, I would have to say that it's extremely likely that we've been brought here to hunt the rebels."

Skylor grinned, "Finally. I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Jay buried his head in his hands, feeling despondent again. Hunt them down? No way. And yet, if he didn't at least act like he was, chances were that he could get into serious trouble. If that was what they had been summoned here to do though, he'd have no choice but to do what he was ordered, no matter his feelings.


	5. FIRE!

**Oh my goodness you guys, I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! This has been an incredibly difficult chapter to write, and my life these past few months has been bonkers. Anyways, much thanks to my friend, GoldenDragon78 for literally looking up all the crazy succession mess that you'll get to read in a minute, for correcting spelling and grammar mistakes, and for helping me write some of the action later in the chapter. I hope you all love love love this update, and please if you like the story, leave a review. I'm always open to constructive criticism of my work. Enjoy the craziness that these guys get into, it only gets better from here:)**

* * *

When Nya met up again with Lloyd, Cole, and Kai, they were in the middle of a strategy meeting trying to figure out where to strike next.

"Nya! You finally got here!" Kai ran over and hugged her, but Lloyd noticed something was wrong.

"What's wrong Nya?" he asked worriedly.

Nya shook her head fast, trying to shake off her dread, "Nothing's wrong, it's just been a long day."

Cole pointed at the map suddenly, "There, it's perfect!"

Lloyd turned his attention back to the map, "Korf? That's such a small town though."

"Whatcha guys looking at?" asked Nya, following Kai to the table where the map was spread out.

"We're trying to find a small town that has the possibility of holding Lloyd's golden sword. The problem is before Harumi died, she hid it somewhere and so far, we haven't been able to find it. However, it is very likely that it was hidden in Korf, especially since it's just so out of the way, I would be very surprised if it wasn't."

"Don't bet all your chickens on one egg, Cole. There's plenty of small towns that she could have hidden it in. It would be so much easier if she could tell us where it is though." Lloyd seemed miserable, and Nya couldn't blame him. After all these years, finally deciding to go and look for the sword that his fiancé had hidden just before she died. Yikes.

"Like she would even if she could," scoffed Kai, "Remember the whole 'oh Lloyd, I wasn't planning on marrying you, I was just trying to get you out of the way so that your deranged father could take over the kingdom.'"

Lloyd shook his head, "I don't believe that she meant it like that, and even if she had... I don't know. But we have to find that sword if we even want to think about taking Ninjago city."

Cole grinned, "Oh yeah, and the, 'poor Lloyd, I made you think you had a chance then dropped the bomb on you that I couldn't care less about your feelings." Lloyd opened his mouth to object but Kai interrupted him.

"Oh-oh, I got one, 'bye-bye Lloyd, nice using you." They both burst out laughing. Nya clenched her teeth and shot them both straight in the face with water.

"That's not funny you two. I know that Cole has never had a relationship like that and Kai couldn't care less since him and Skylor dumped each other, but this is serious. A broken heart doesn't heal easily." She paused, feeling sad, "I should know."

Kai sighed, "Ok, I get it. Sorry, Lloyd, it's just—you're our little brother and it's second nature to tease you. Forgive us?"

Lloyd rubbed his eyes tiredly, "Yes, I do. Now can we focus? The sword. What do we know about where it might be?"

Everyone paused, not exactly sure what to say. Cole raised his hand, "Maybe we could start with a few people who might know."

"Like?"

"Like maybe Ronan, Dareth?" Cole volunteered.

"Oooohhh no, not Dareth! That guy wouldn't give us anything worth having unless it involved him being able to brag about being the 'brown ninja'. We should discreetly contact Ronan and ask him about it, but not Dareth."

"I think it would not be wise to not ask Dareth if he knows anything, because he could. People talk in front of him because he seems too dim to understand, but he retains things very well. Never count Dareth out." Kai argued.

Lloyd sighed, "Fine, but I don't trust him. Does anyone have any ideas on how to contact them?"

"Maybe we just need to go to them. I think they both live in Ninjago city. If we're careful, no one will even know we're there." Nya pointed to Ninjago city on the map. "It's a simple matter of visiting a few shops."

Lloyd scratched his chin, thinking,"Ok, let's do it. Just everyone be careful, I don't need anyone to get caught and put in prison. We'll put Kai and Cole on finding Ronan and me and Nya will get some answers out of Dareth. Each team will be responsible for finding the person and getting the information. Got it?" After everyone nodded, he finished, "Great, we'll start in the morning."

_Four years ago_

"On one hand, it's a good thing that the transfer of power was smooth, but he's going to start bullying the people and that's not our job. Our job is and always has been to protect the free will of the good citizens of Ninjago, but with Garmadon as their ruler, at some point, he'll start bringing down the iron fist. Am I right?" Lloyd asked, looking around the table at the faces of his teammates, some agreeing, most in opposition. It hurt that he might have to run away from them, Zane, Skylor, Cole, they were all his friends, and he might need to fight past them to follow his convictions.

Kai nodded, "I agree. Almost every time we've faced Garmadon, he's had some evil scheme up his sleeve and I think we have to be ready for it. We can't just act like it will all work out when it might not. We need to be ready and not accept the job he wants us to do. Why does it have to be something administrative? We have found that we work better on our own, with little to no interference from the government. Garmadon wants to change everything that we've stood for in the past, and I say we don't allow it to happen."

There was a ripple of disagreement around the table. Lloyd noticed the only ones who stayed quiet were Jay and Nya. So he directed his next question to Jay, "What do you think Jay?" he asked innocently.

Jay shook his head, "No way, I'm not in on this argument. I'm completely neutral. This will end up ending with all of us together or all of us split up, I prefer to just not voice an opinion and not split us up anymore."

Skylor shook her head, "I can't believe your siding with Lloyd, Kai, clearly neither of you are thinking straight and I don't care to think about it that way. This time, Garmadon is trying to reform the team, instead of having it be the same team that started their training who knows how many years ago. And yes, he might be up to no good, but there was a time when he was good, and he helped us all. Who's to say that that won't happen again? Either way, we should give him a chance and make no decisions based on past experiences."

The table erupted into a flurry of arguments and pointed fingers. Lloyd bit his lip, finally deciding to stand up and stop the arguments. "Stop everyone. STOP!" Everyone fell silent, amazed at how loud Lloyd could get. He took a deep breath.

"Fighting about this will not solve anything. We need to not point fingers and get upset, we're a family, a team, not just a group of people deciding to room together because of common interests. If we can't work this out like civilized people, I don't know what we should do, but it wouldn't be good. So everyone, for goodness sake, PLEASE work it out."

Sitting back down, Lloyd waited for the talking to resume. Nya stood up slowly, looking extremely nervous. "As you all know, myself and Jay have tried to avoid taking a side in this dispute. I agree with Lloyd on one point-in order for this to be resolved, we have to act like more like a team and less like rivals fighting over a prize of some sort. The unity of our team must be preserved. Whatever ends up happening, we can't split into different factions that hate each other. That's all I have to say."

After Nya sat down, no one seemed inclined to speak again, so Lloyd dismissed the meeting with the urge to stay civil when discussing this matter. After that, they were done. Lloyd glanced at his watch and headed outside, grabbing a parachute from the main deck and preparing to jump off the Bounty. He heard rather than saw Jay come up behind him. "What is it, Jay?" He asked, securing the straps of the parachute around him.

Jay shifted nervously, "I just wanted to check-in. You seemed a bit more stressed than usual."

"I'm alright. It's just that so much has been happening, between my dad now being the emperor and all that now implies, to the fact that I have to be the one to cool down arguments what feels like every 10 minutes." He mussed up his hair, feeling like he could sleep for days with no trouble. "It's not helping that I can practically see the team tearing apart at the seams. I don't think we've ever been this close to falling apart- not even after Zane died."

Jay joined him at the edge, leaning against the edge of the ship. "I know. Normally I feel like there's a sense that it'll all work itself out and in the end, we'll end up closer than before. For whatever reason, I'm not feeling that in this instance. It's kind of bothering me like there's going to be an explosion and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it."

Both were silent for a moment, each one wrapped in his thoughts. Lloyd turned to Jay. "Are you sure you and Nya won't decide what side you're on? It would be nice to have someone other than Kai with me on this issue."

Jay shook his head. "I don't think it's a matter of who's on what side. It's mostly a matter of whether you believe Garmadon's claims that we need more supervision or not. As of right now, I'm leaning towards no, but you never know what could happen to change my mind. Until the people who believe in the fact the Garmadon claims to have the best interests of the people of Ninjago in mind decide to do something, we're kind of stuck." He seemed to suddenly notice the fact the Lloyd was wearing a parachute. "Where are you going?"

"Out to see Harumi. I haven't seen her in a while and we need to talk about wedding plans." Lloyd chuckled, obviously still a bit weird about the fact that he was engaged.

Jay grinned. "Convinced her on the fact that she needs to wear a dress yet?"

Lloyd sighed. "Well kinda. She finally did agree on the dress part, but she's still does not want to have flowers, a veil or something of the sort, and her crown. The pressure for the crown is mostly coming from her parents, her mom especially, but she doesn't like to advertise the fact that she's no longer the next in line for the throne. I told her it's no big deal, but she's still upset about it."

Jay suddenly got a strange look on him, the look that said he'd just thought of something he hadn't before. "First spinjitzu master, I just realized that YOU are next in line for the throne now."

"Wow Jay, great going," Lloyd replied glumly.

"Yikes. I mean, it's bad enough that you've got all this going on, but on top of that, you've been dealing with the fact that you are now the heir to a stolen throne! Crikey. How does that even work anyway, I guess I thought that Harumi was still the heir or something?"

Lloyd bit his lip, not wanting to talk about it, but knowing that it had only been a matter of time before someone put the pieces together and he had to explain the whole mess. "Ok, so it's like this. As of right now, my official title is 'heir apparent' to the throne of Ninjago. If something unexpected were to happen that ended in my untimely death, Uncle Wu would then assume the throne because he is Garmadon's younger brother, making him the next in line if I had not been born. Harumi used to be the heiress apparent, but since my dad took over, that title moved on to me. However, because we are engaged, when we get married, she will become a princess again. If all of us, my dad, me and uncle Wu were to die, she would inherit the throne because the line of power would pass back into her family, which therefore makes her third in line for the throne. In short, as of right now, the line of succession after my dad is me, uncle Wu and Harumi. This would change if Harumi and I after we get married, had a child, in which case they would be placed at the front of the line and Harumi would become queen consort." Lloyd lapsed back into silence.

Jay didn't say anything, processing the whole complicated matter. "Lloyd, I'm sorry that I didn't realize the pressure you are under, this is far too much responsibility to put on one person's shoulders. The whole team should be around you, but instead, we're too busy fighting about whether or not someone's right."

Lloyd tapped his fingers against the guardrail, glad that someone else now knew about this whole mess. It took quite a weight off of his shoulders, and for the first time, he could feel his level of stress moving down, if only a bit. "Well, thanks for making me tell you. It helps that someone else knows now. If you'll excuse me though, I should get going. Don't want to be late."

"Uh, yeah, that was what I was coming to talk to you about actually... I think you should bring your sword with you. You know, for safety reasons."

Lloyd frowned, "Jay, I'm not bringing my sword with me on a date with my fiancé. That would be like saying I don't trust her."

"It's still safer to have it with you than not. Because its publicly known that you are actively opposing Garmadon, even though you're the heir apparent, who knows who might be plotting to take you out!"

"Jay, I'm a ninja for goodness sake! I don't need a sword to be deadly. I've been trained in over 40 ways to take someone down and to boot, I can summon and shoot energy bolts from my hands. I don't think I need my sword."

"For safety reasons Lloyd. If we weren't defying our emperor I would agree, but this could save your life." He held Lloyd's sword. "Please take it, I don't want you to get hurt."

Lloyd hesitated, a battle warring in his brain. It WOULD be safer to have his sword with him. For the whole spiel he'd just gone on, he was almost 10 times more deadly with his sword then without. Reluctantly, he grasped it by the golden hilt, swinging it into his scabbard across his back.

"I'll see you later Jay. Once I'm headed back I'll call in and tell you my coordinates. It's a good thing that the restaurant is only off of 4th and Jade, not too far away."

"Have a good time Lloyd! Oh and tell Harumi we all said hi!"

After acknowledging what Jay had said, Lloyd vaulted off the side, ready for a romantic date. Little did he know then, the moment he grasped the hilt of his sword was the moment he sealed his fate. That choice could never be unmade.

_Present-day_

The journey to Ninjago city was a short one, mostly because they had to stay relatively close to the city, for spying and sneaking in purposes, but also keep a fair distance away too, to avoid the crush of people that frequented the roads in and out of the city. So, while Lloyd and Nya left the cave earlier, to catch Dareth as he opened his shop, Cole and Kai had the privilege of being able to leave a bit later, since Ronan didn't operate on a fixed schedule. Ronan was an almost annoyingly consistent source of information, almost insisting that he 'always had more', for a small fee, of course.

"So how are we even supposed to find this guy? I mean, Lloyd said that we would find someone to lead us to him in Corina Square, but how will we know it's him? I haven't seen him since we- split." Kai pulled up his hood to conceal and contain his spiky hair, which was painfully noticeable on the streets.

"Keep your voice down, Kai," warned Cole, "Our goal is to get in and get out without drawing attention to ourselves. Not that that red hoodie is helping."

"What can I say? Red is my signature color. Oh hey, what do you think of this smolder?" He turned to Cole, gave a cocky smile, and winked.

Cole wrinkled his nose, "First of all, creepy, second, maybe cut down on the smile a bit, you look kinda delusional."

"Oooookkkkk, how about this?" Kai turned around, gave his signature smile, then pulled out an imaginary comb and began to comb his hair, still trying to smolder Cole.

Cole stifled a laugh and began to respond, but stopped abruptly in the street and grabbed the back of Kai's hoodie."Uh oh, guards."

They were pushing roughly past people, shoving them out of the way and examining the faces of everyone who passed by, obviously looking for something. Or someone.

Both of them began to slowly back out of the way, trying to unobtrusively sneak out of the crowd and in the opposite direction. Lloyd's voice crackled loudly in both of their ears. "Guys, guys, get out of there right now. Someone recognized me and called the emperor's guards. They just burst into Dareth's shop and started searching the place. He was able to distract them for a few seconds, but we were spotted just as we must realize you two are also in the city. You have to head for the gated right now before they close them."

"What about Ronan? He may have information about the sword! We can't just leave!" Kai protested quietly, hoping Lloyd would relent.

Lloyd didn't back down. "You can and you will. That's an order."

"But-"

"A direct order, Kai. Dareth did have some things to share that we managed to retrieve before the guards came, but it's not worth it to get yourself captured for nothing. Get out of there right now."

Kai mumbled an acknowledgment, looking resentful about being ordered to stand down. Continuing on their previous course backward, they turned slowly and walked casually in the opposite direction, hoping against all hope they were inconspicuous enough (and maybe lucky enough too) to pull it off without being noticed.

They didn't have that kind of luck, unfortunately. Almost as soon as they turned around and took three steps the guards noticed them trying to leave. " Hey, you there! Stop right there!"

"Ah dang," Groaned Cole, "C'mon, we've got to get out of here!"

The two set off running, ducking and dodging people in their way. The guards responded by calling in that they may have found the fugitives and chasing after them.

"Are you sure this was-a good idea?" Kai asked, "We would not be in a good spot-if the-reinforcements or Jay, Skylor and Zane-showed up earlier-than we- expect them."

"I figure we can just cut across the rooftops and try to lose them up there. Worst case scenario we use our powers to get out of a fight."

Agreeing, Kai followed Cole up a drainage pipe and onto the rooftops. Kai took a second to knock the pipe down so they couldn't be followed easily that way, then followed Cole in the general direction of the west gates.

Kai happened to glance behind them and spotted the guards that had been chasing them (joined by a few more that had been stationed nearby) scramble onto the rooftop and begin pursuing them again. He was so busy staring at them that he tripped on a ledge and almost fell through the crack in between buildings.

Cole caught him by the back of his hoodie and hoisted him up, grunting slightly from the effort. "Careful! You have to pay attention to where you're going. A fall from this height could be fatal."

Kai grunted in response. The two of them were only about a quarter-mile away from the edge of the city, close enough that it should be a walk in the park to get to the wall and jump it.

"How are we gonna shake the guards once we've jumped the wall? It's practically all open country from here."

Cole sighed, "One problem at a time Kai. One problem at a time."

Kai was barely listening. It was almost as if he was able to taste their freedom and he could hear nothing but the pounding of the blood in his ears. He ran and ran, his calves burning from the exercise, but it felt good. He prepared to launch himself off of the building they were currently on and onto another, smaller one. Cole suddenly grasped at the back of his hoodie (again), pulling him back from jumping onto the other building.

"What is wrong with you?" Kai yelled, feeling extremely upset with Cole.

Cole pointed behind him, not making a sound. Kai turned slowly, almost afraid of what he'd see.

A helicopter, with an impressive silver and gold paint job and the seal of the emperor emblazoned on the side was rising from the gap between the two buildings. If he had followed through on the jump, he would have been shredded by the fast-spinning rotors.

"Cole and Kai! In the name of Emperor Garmadon put your hands up!" yelled a man inside of the copter.

"Coooole, he's got a gun." Kai tried to think rationally. There was no way they could surrender. They would be taken into custody and disappear forever. The only option was to fight. Lloyd hated the idea of them fighting unless they had to, since when they got into fights, it usually ended with people hurt and buildings demolished, which did absolutely nothing for their reputation.

Cole seemed to have gotten the same thought because his hands curled into fists in preparation to summon the elemental power of earth. They exchanged a glance and Kai also readied himself to fight. Behind them, more guards were assembling with weapons made of vengestone.

"Put your hands up and surrender," repeated the guard, training his gun on the two of them. "I will not hesitate to shoot. There is nowhere for you to go. Put your hands where I can see them."

Kai sighed, "Sorry about this." He reached deep down inside of himself, feeling the familiar sensation of something in his core heating up as he drew on his powers. Rubbing his fingers against each other, he summoned a small tongue of fire in the hand he had behind his back, staring at the man as the fire grew bigger and bigger in his hand.

It didn't seem like the man knew what he was talking about, as he instead tightened his grip on his gun and opened his mouth to repeat the order to stand down. Kai never let him start talking. He threw a fireball towards the back rotor, making it burst into flames.

Beside him, Cole whipped around and struck the ground at their feet, making the building shake and rumble.

_Hopefully, there's no one inside_. Kai jumped back a little bit as rocks came up from the ground and both created a shield around them and blocked the foot soldiers behind them, making them have to jump out of the way to avoid being thrown off the building.

"Duck!" Cole commanded, slamming his fist into the ground again. Kai followed the instructions, ducking out of the way as bullets ripped into where his head had been mere seconds before. The stone blocked it, but from the sound it made, too many more rounds might do it in.

Cole put his hands flat against the rock and grimaced, "We have to get out of here. Like soon. This is NOT going to hold much longer."

Kai didn't even bother asking how he knew that just from touching the rock; he was too busy trying to formulate a plan of escape. Down was not an option. By now there were probably tons of policemen and soldiers out there with equipment made from vengestone, the only known substance in all of Ninjago capable of neutralizing their powers. Up was also a no-go, since the fireball that Kai had thrown at the copter hadn't damaged any major systems, it was still more than capable of flying higher and shooting them before they had even stepped three steps. _The only option is through_. Out loud to Cole, he said, "Ready to fight your way out?"

Cole grinned, "Always. Are you?"

Kai lightly punched his shoulder, "Course. On my count." He steadied himself, getting the rhythm of the bullets pounding and chipping away at the stone. He counted down on his fingers. At 3, they whipped out from two different sides of the rock. Kai summoned up fire and blasted the helicopter. It spiraled down and exploded onto a building across the street, setting it on fire.

Kai was too preoccupied to pay much attention to that though, as they were facing off the foot soldiers, who had managed to disentangle themselves from the rock. They had brought in a full battalion, 12 men.

It took almost a full 15 minutes or more of being completely engaged in the combat before Kai noticed the intense smell of smoke in the air. He elbowed the man he was fighting in the stomach and flipped him over his shoulder, slamming him into the building and knocking him unconscious. They were not aiming to kill.

Cole also dispatched his opponent, "Do you smell that? Smells like smoke." He glanced behind Kai, "Oh-snap."

Kai slowly turned around. He was not prepared for what he saw.

Ninjago City was on fire.


	6. Into the flames

As soon as it registered that he should probably do something about the flames that were now licking the upper levels of the building steadily, Cole jumped off the building to the streets below. Anyone who was not a ninja would not have done this like they had no regard for their own lives, but Cole had been doing this since his late teens. By now, it was second nature. After rolling to break his fall, he sprinted towards the now raging fire. From the other sound of feet hitting the pavement behind him, Kai had had the same thought.

_This is bad. _His thoughts raced, trying to sort through the scenario and eliminate the many variables that kept popping up. The smoke wafted straight into his eyes, making them water like mad. Beside him, Kai tore off his red hoodie and pressed it to his face before disappearing into the thick smoke.

Cole stood frozen, feeling the now familiar sense of panic start to settle over him. Kai ran out holding a small child and leading a group of adults into the cleaner air before plunging back into the thick veil of smoke.

Again, Cole tried to move, to force his muscles to move, but steadily growing panic kept him rooted in place just about as effectively as if he'd been chained there. He tried to push out of his mind the sound of cracking timber, the screams of people trapped in the building, yelling and crying out for help as the fire caged them in on all sides and they choked on the thick, roiling smoke. The helplessness he had felt then descended upon him again, and it was obvious to him that no matter how hard he had tried to get over what had happened, he still had not gotten over the guilt that he could have stopped it.

When Kai came out of the fire again, leading more people, he noticed Cole standing there, rooted to the ground with a look of panic written plain and clear across his face.

"Oh no, Cole." He ran over to him, his clothes starting to blacken from the soot and face covered with ash. "Cole, I get this, I do, but right now, people need you. I know how hard it is to shake the survivor's guilt, but there wasn't anything you could do. But right here, right now, there is something that you can do."

Cole started shaking imperceptibly, "I-I can't do this again. I just can't. This is just too similar. What if it happens again? I don't think I could live with myself if it happened again."

"If it happens again then we'll deal with it. But Cole, I need your help. We need to get as many people out as possible before Garmadon sends Special Forces in. Please, Cole, these people need you."

Cole tried to steady himself, squashing the feeling of hopelessness to the best of his abilities and focusing on what he could do instead. Kai nodded before plunging back in. It shouldn't be as hard as it is. After all, he knew what he was supposed to be. Get into the building, get the innocents, and get out. It should be simple right? Except it wasn't. Beforehand, something like this wouldn't have presented any problem whatsoever, but now... He couldn't risk repeating that day that even now gave him nightmares. Except this time, he may be able to erase whatever mistake he had made the first time. Maybe this time, he wouldn't have to wake up in the middle of the night hearing the screams of people who would never come back-who suffered for one stupid mistake that he couldn't undo now. He had vowed never again that night, and now he would keep that vow.

Making his decision, he squared his shoulders and took a deep breath, listening to the shouts inside of the fiery building and the sound of tramping feet as fire teams got closer and closer. At last, his feet obeyed his instructions and he took off running into the building. Thinking back, he didn't know how long he was in there. It could have been fifteen minutes, it could have been hours. After a certain amount of time, he lost count of the number of times he showed people the way out.

The smoke was suffocating. It was so thick he could barely see 3 feet in front of him. The glow of the fire from all around made him dizzy, and every breath made him cough. From far away, he could hear Kai directing people on the way out. He broke down a door and let the people trapped inside free, giving them instructions as to where the exit was. For not the first time, he heartily wished Nya was with him, or the Zane was ready to help put out the fire and assess structural damage. One thing was obvious though. What had started as one building on fire must have by now spread to other buildings, and there was quite literally nothing they could do to stop it. He just hoped that the rest of his former team got on the scene soon so they would be able to start tackling it.

By the time he got to the topmost floor, his lungs and chest were starting to hurt and his eyes were now continually tearing up. He hadn't seen anyone for a little while now, and he was beginning to believe that this building may be clear. He tapped his comm, trying to get Kai.

"How ya doing Cole?" Kai's voice came through the earpiece.

Cole dodged some falling timber and checked inside a room, "It seems to be clear now, at least mostly up here. Do you have eyes on the outside?"

"Yeah, it looks like the fire department is here. I'd say hurry up and clear that floor before the army gets here and starts sweeping for us. I'll meet you back at base."

"Copy that." Cole checked another door and glanced down the hallway. He was almost to the end, and his well-toned instincts were telling him that first, he only had at the most 15 minutes before the building became structurally unsafe or the army got here and began sweeping, maybe less, and second that there probably wasn't anyone in here anymore. He heard the sound of someone coughing behind a closed and possibly locked door. There was a large hole in the ground where something had fallen through, and a quick cursory glance told him that he'd need a running start to make it across. Cole backed up, took a breath (not too deep so he wouldn't start coughing), gauged the distance and LEAPED, crashing into the wall on the other side.

Cole landed roughly with all of his weight on his left ankle. He stumbled, groaning as his ankle seemed to go on fire from the shock. _C'mon Cole you can do this. Get up_. He propped himself up on one elbow and tried to get back on his feet. It took a minute, but he mustered the strength to climb to his feet. The room spun, and he breathed hard, coughing from the smoke he'd been inhaling. He screwed his eyes shut, willing the dizziness and nausea to pass. It did subside, but only a little bit. He tested his ankle, wincing at the shooting pain that shot up his leg, bringing on the intense dizziness again. He leaned against the wall, keeping his eyes tightly closed. His shoulder burned from the hot wall, but he couldn't worry about that right now. He decided he needed to open his eyes now, and when he did, his vision went white and for a moment he was afraid he might pass out. Vaguely, it occurred to him that there was no way that he was feeling this sick from just a sprained ankle (unless it was broken, which it couldn't be since he could put a bit of weight on it), and he glanced at his hands, feeling only a bit of bleary surprise at the sight of the 2nd degree burns on them. _Ohhhh so that's why I feel so sick_ he noted, _man do I really hate fire_.

The sound of renewed coughing and hacking from the door now only a few steps away from him seemed to wake him up. Part of it was probably the thought that no one was going to die on his watch and the other thought that he probably _would_ die if he didn't get a move on and out. So, he pushed all of the nausea and dizziness aside and focused on what he needed to do. He blinked twice, forcing how utterly sick he was feeling into the furthest corners of his mind. For a bit, he didn't notice the burns and the pain from his sprained ankle and he focused on the door that he needed to break down to get to the girl inside. Hobbling over to it, he glanced briefly at the handle. _Darn, made completely of metal, which by now will be hot to the touch. I don't really need 3rd-degree burns. _This being decided, he opted for the second and much more fun option for getting into a room. He busted down the door.

As soon as the door swung open, now hanging crazily by its hinges, the smoke got thicker, forcing Cole to grab his mask from behind him and put it over his mouth and nose. After a minute or so, the smoke cleared enough so he could see a girl, maybe his age, with light brown hair with streaks of silver and golden eyes that seemed to ripple like pure gold. At first, she seemed frightened of him, but the fear turned quickly to hope when she saw who it was.

"Co-Cole? No way," she coughed violently, "Everyone thinks all of you are dead. Or worse, captured."

He swallowed, "Come on," he rasped, realizing how horribly unheroic he sounded, "The building is about to collapse. We have to get out of here."

"Is Nya, Lloyd, and Kai here too?" She asked, beginning to get up.

Cole avoided that question, "Is there anyone else in here or did everyone else leave?"

She shook her head, "No. When that helicopter crashed into the lower levels, everyone rushed out. They all had been watching the fight, you know and...not all were rooting against you."

Cole was barely hearing anything that she was saying. He was a bit too busy trying to find an exit besides the one that he had come through to pay much attention. His attention was pulled to the glint of the red fire engines as they set up a perimeter and began to send people to the buildings to the side and behind him to keep the fires contained there. He suspected that it had spread far further than they suspected and hoped that those who had been in the surrounding buildings were ok.  
"Ok, we really have to-" He paused, hearing something else in the building itself. The creaking and groaning had grown louder, giving him the hint that not only had Zane and Skylor gotten to work putting out the fire, but also that the boards holding the building up had begun to crack, giving them only mere minutes to get out or risk being crushed.

Cole helped the girl up, "Can you walk?" He asked, trying to sound to anxious or unkind. When she nodded, he grabbed her hand, "Don't let go, whatever happens. This connection between us makes it so that first, we don't lose each other in the smoke and second, that if I have to create a shield you won't get trapped outside of it. Got that?"

She nodded again; seeming a little awed that Cole was holding her hand. He chose to ignore how holding her hand in his made his heart beat a little faster.

To the side of them, a beam of burning wood crashed to the floor, making them both jump. Cole took this as a signal that they needed to move.

Weaving out of the door and dodging fallen decorations and wooden beam, Cole jumped quickly to the side to avoid a potted tree that fell to the floor, its wood charred and burning. From the holes in the walls to all the broken windows, it was such a pain to avoid being spotted by the enemy outside.

The girl beside him stopped suddenly, and although he was supposed to be much, much stronger than her, she still managed to stop him in his tracks. Maybe it was because of how in tune he was to her. _Way to be weird._ Out loud, he said, "What is it?" Glancing at her, he wondered what she heard. Then, he heard it too. Beyond the crackle of the flames was the sound of people shouting as they also searched the building, not just for trapped civilians, but also for him as well.

Cole swallowed, feeling incredibly nervous and apprehensive that he would be found and brought into custody. Deciding that he wasn't going to let his fear stop him, he closed his eyes and took a very deep breath, tuning out the sounds of the fire, the people searching for him, even his own thoughts, until all he could hear was his heartbeat. It was fast, which didn't help him relax much, but the simple act of slowing down and stopping did calm him a little bit. When he opened his eyes again, he was able to say confidently, "Come on, we have to move before the building coll-uhh I mean, they reach this floor."

She gave him a strange look but didn't call his bluff, which he was very grateful for. They jumped another hole in the floor, and this time he made a point to land on his other side and steadied her when she stumbled. His ankle protested, of course, sending another wave of pain through him, but up till right about now, it hadn't been too hard to ignore. He could only hope that he didn't aggravate it or worse, break it.

The building creaked ominously and looking behind him, he could see pieces of the roof falling down and crashing into floors below, making it nearly impossible for someone without an elemental power to get across. Unfortunately, the other side had two such people with these abilities.

The flames got very intense and Cole shielded his eyes from the glare that was coming from the part metal walls and whatever windows were still intact. Turning away from what was behind, Cole focused on what was ahead. Beside him, the young woman coughed, choking on the smoke that came from everywhere at once.

The only problem with facing what is ahead, sometimes there's nothing. That's exactly what Cole saw, nothing. Just a building waaayyyy across that was on fire itself. Desperate, he looked down. There, he was faced with the best possible situation. An alleyway with a few dumpsters and concrete. Just that. It was perfect.

Turning to her, he noticed how fast the flames were advancing, and how hot they were getting as well. "Ok, this is gonna seem crazy, but we're gonna have to jump. I need you to trust me and just jump when I do. Do you trust me?"

She looked him straight in the eyes and said without even a quiver in her voice, "Yes Cole. I do."

He nodded, "Ok then, JUMP!"

Her look of surprise melted into a look of determination. In the second it took her expression to change, Cole had already leaped into thin air. Already he was calculating exactly how much earth they would need to cushion their fall so they wouldn't land in the dumpster and how hard they would hit it. Determining all of this took only a second and he shot out a blast of earth over the dumpster, but only enough so it would cushion them. The last thing they needed was for people to come looking in the alleyway and to notice an exorbitant amount of earth all over, signaling he'd been there. Just as they were about to hit the mound he'd put up, he'd pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from the impact that would leave her winded and bruised. Him? He was used to it.

It worked perfectly, even better then he could have hoped for. The earth was soft enough so it didn't hurt half as much as it could have if he'd jumped into the dumpster and was firm enough to hold his weight.  
"Are you ok?"

She nodded, starting to cough from all of the toxins she'd been inhaling for the past half an hour.

Relief flooded him. For a minute, the two of them just sat and listened to the sound of people shouting and to the fire. Cole massaged his ankle, trying to muster the energy to leave because he knew he had to. All the pain and wooziness he had been ignoring was starting to come back and he needed to get home so his friends could help him out. Finally, he felt able to get up, but when he made to do so, the young woman grabbed his arm and squeezed it hard. He turned startled and she said in a low, anxious voice, eager to get out what she had to say before she either lost the nerve or someone spotted the two.

"Tell the green ninja that not all are against him. Some of us haven't bought into the emperor's propaganda. When you come next, there will be an army waiting to assist you. Now you have to get out of here before we get seen."  
She released his arm and made a shooing motion with her hands.

Cole finally managed to tear his eyes from hers. He was shocked that she was brave enough to say that to him, especially since one could have no idea of who was listening. Reluctantly, he climbed the wall leading to the next alleyway, remembering to dissolve the earth that had stopped their fall. Just before he dropped to the other side though, he glanced back at her.

She smiled softly, "I'll be fine Cole, but you won't be, now go."

If he was honest, he didn't want to go. Despite the fact he absolutely COULD NOT get caught, all of his instincts were telling him to stay, to protect her and get her to safety. Common sense was saying that she'd be fine. That any girl who was smart enough to stay in one room so it'd be easier to find her, gutsy enough to jump off of a building when asked to and brave enough to blatantly tell a criminal that she was with him surely was able to call for help loud enough for someone to hear her. Not to mention that it really was only a matter of time before someone happened to look down there and see him and he was in absolutely no condition to fight. The pain that had been coming back little by little before was coming back in waves now that he had started to run and the sunlight was making his head pound.

In the end, common sense won, like normal. With one last glance in the direction he had come, he sped up, limping a bit to avoid putting too much stress on his wounded ankle.

It only occurred to him after was several miles away that he had never asked what her name was.


	7. Never argue with a girl with a grudge

**A/N: Hey you guys! Sorry for how long it took to publish that last chapter. Between all the stuff that's happened since the last time I'd published, the only opportunity to write and publish has now happened with the whole shelter in place thang. Well, I was in such a rush to publish the last chapter I forgot to say heeyyyyyyy. Hello to all those who've followed or liked Green Legacy since chapter 5! Hopefully, you enjoy this new chapter. Continue reviewing and following, I love the input! Happy reading!**

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Jay was helping to organize search and rescue. Because, in this case, he would likely do more harm than good, he left the job of putting the fire out to his teammates and focused his energies on getting people safely away from the fire zone.

He imagined from the inside of the building it would seem like the fire hadn't spread very far, but it was obvious that all the buildings around it had at least been singed, if not on fire themselves. There was a 5-block perimeter set up and the smaller structure fires had been contained. but in the time it had taken them to respond and get there, several larger fires had spawned from the main one. These were proving to be a bit more of a challenge.

Shouts drew his attention to where a group of firemen was struggling to with hoses, trying to calm the flames that just continued growing no matter their efforts.

"Hold it!" He yelled, reverting to what his friends used to call, "in control strong ninja man". He forced himself not to think about his friends. Nowadays, even thinking about them could get him into serious trouble.

Grabbing one of the hoses, he helped the men move it in to douse the flames. This took a bit, as wherever they pointed the hose at one point, more flames would appear from another area. When they managed to bring down the flames to something a bit more manageable, the firefighters assured him that they would be fine. Especially as he had a job to do. He strode back to the table that held a tablet and a hot cup of tea. Black tea with a hint of lemon. Just like how his mom used to make it. Before she died... _Ugh, stop thinking of all this stuff, I need to stay focused on what I'm doing, not getting distracted with the past. Focus Jay, focus. _He turned his attention back to the tablet. It was the size of a normal tablet, but it was special in that it had been upgraded to show real-time reports of disasters, like what had happened here. It had red fire dots for where the fire currently was, and a blue line where firefighters were fighting it. Zane and Skylor were also on there as white and orange dots respectively. By the looks of it, the fire had reached five buildings, putting two into critical condition structure-wise, critically damaged one, and scorching the other two with varying degrees of damage. A notification appeared on the side alerting him to reinforcements on the way.

_What a mess you guys made._ Deep down, he sincerely hoped that after Kai and Cole had done the hero thing that they normally did, that they had been smart enough to get out before they were close enough to get caught. On the other hand, however, he was fuming at them. He was fuming that they were so sure in their abilities that they would be foolish enough to come into the city in broad daylight and start a major fire. When he looked around, he saw people doing their jobs as best as they could, trying to reduce the damage as much as they could. If you thought about it, it made sense that people would see them as the bad guys.

He heard Skylor before she reached him. When she tapped his shoulder, he resisted the urge to punch her (stupid ninja reflexes) and instead turned to see what she needed. Her face and her clothes were no longer bright orange but blackened with ash.

"How far away are the reinforcements?" She wheezed.

Jay called for some water and offered her his chair. To his surprise, she didn't glare at him or roll her eyes, she just plopped down on it. "So far the fire has spread to the corner of Rose and Winter. Zane and his team are tied down at Ice Street." She gratefully gulped down the water brought for her. "I only came back because I need to find Zane and get replenishment. I've never used anyone's powers like this before." She started on another bottle of water and Jay turned back to the map to allow her to catch her breath without feeling like she needed to talk. Not that that kept her down for long, "Ugh I hate Kai. How dare he flaunt the fact that apparently, they can march in and out of the city as much as they choose without getting caught? I wish we could catch them and get it over with."

Jay's walkie beeped and he picked it up from where it had been laying on the table. The voice of a soldier came through, out of breath like he'd been running.  
"Commander? Sir, are you there?"

"I'm here," Jay responded, "Go ahead." He picked up a notepad and a pen so he could take notes if he needed to.

"Well, our squadron is on the north side of the fire making sure to keep civilians out of the fire zone and-we, uh-we saw the fire ninja."

"You saw Kai?" Jay gaped, dropping his pen onto the ground where it fell with a click. _No no no no no, both of you were supposed to leave earlier_. "I assume you are in pursuit?" He tried to regain his composure, but that had never been his strong point. He was shook and it would take a while to get over it.

"Yes sir we are, He's proving to be very slippery to catch though. He keeps using some kind of disappearing tactic that his old sensei must have taught him. It's only pure luck that we've been able to spot him and continue the pursuit."

Jay tried to ignore how Skylor was practically leaping out of her seat in want to join the pursuit. "Uh, yes, continue as you can, I'll put the other teams on alert for you guys and send some men to help." As soon as he released the button that allowed the soldier to hear him, he turned to Skylor, "No, absolutely not. No way, don't even try, it won't work."

Skylor wasn't willing to take no for an answer, "Just let me go after him, I'm the most qualified person on hand who's not doing anything."

Jay shook his head adamantly, "Absolutely not. Your very strong emotions towards him won't aid you in taking him in, it'll merely end with him dead and you holding the knife! We need him alive."

Her mouth tightened into a thin line. For a split second, Jay was a bit worried that she was gonna jump him, but she relaxed with some effort and went into what he mentally called 'diplomacy professor Skylor'. What she basically did was she tried to convince him that she was right using her stupid 'rules of diplomacy'. Sure she would follow his instructions to the letter when it was REALLY important, but when it was something more trivial like this, she'd argue her point of view till he either gave in or threatened her. Unfortunately, most of the time what she was saying was right. He just kinda liked annoying the snot out of her.

"Look, Jay, I'm the obvious best choice here. Those soldiers currently in pursuit clearly don't know how to track a well-trained ninja. I do. Not to mention, you're needed here and Zane can't go because he's busy fighting the fires." She folded her arms, "That leaves only me."

Jay rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling stressed out. She was right, he couldn't really argue there. But at the same time, he didn't want her to kill Kai. Her grudge against him was so strong that he honestly wouldn't be surprised if she aimed to kill instead of knock unconscious. Finally, he sighed, "Fine, permission to pursue Kai granted. But I want him alive and with all his limbs attached."

She saluted, "Yes sir."

Jay wearily watched her sprint away and silently yelled for Kai to run as fast as he possibly could. Zane's voice came through his communicator,  
"Jay, may I ask after the reinforcements? We have a building in critical condition with its structural integrity compromised and we have some person not accounted for."

"Yeah, the reinforcements should be here in the next fifteen minutes. How many people are we missing?"

Zane paused, accessing something, "We are missing four persons. A Laura Gnelsik, Samuel Gofan, Gearen Colar, and a Keara Boltar. All have been confirmed to have been on the scene when the helicopter crashed into the business and none of them have been found as of a minute ago."

"Alright, I'll get men on it right away and will let you know when we get those reinforcements." Jay released the button on his comm and organized a team to start searching for those people. At first, he thought that he'd be able to help them look, but as the day started to wear on he got less and less hopeful that he'd be able to. It seemed like every time he turned around there was someone else who needed his attention. It was only about 15 minutes after he had sent the team out when he was called into the line to help with starting to get the civilians who'd been in the building when the helicopter crashed into it. He was taking notes on an eyewitness's point of view on what had happened when he heard someone calling for help somewhere nearby. Quickly finishing up, he began searching for the source of the cry. It was coming from an alleyway beside the original building Kai had crashed the helicopter into.

"Hello?" He called, lighting a spark of electricity on his palm. The feeling he got when he used his elemental power warmed him up like a hot drink and he shivered a bit from the sensation of it. "Where are you? I heard someone call out."

A young woman came from the back of the alleyway, covered with ash and burned from the fire. She looked about ready to pass out, and Jay made the spark hover in mid-air so he could pick her up. "What's your name ma'am?"

She glanced weakly at him, "Keala. My name is Keala."

Jay nodded, maneuvering his hand so he could press his comm, "Zane I've located Ms. Boltar. Please alert paramedics and the search and rescue team." He directed the lightning to light the way to daylight and followed it out, extinguishing it with a flick of his wrist when he entered daylight.

As soon as they could see him carrying her out the paramedics rushed to him with a stretcher and first aid equipment.

"How did you get out of there?" He asked her, depositing her onto the stretcher.

The paramedics wouldn't let her answer though, "All due respect sir, but Ms. Boltar shouldn't be talking. She may have some serious lung damage from the amount of smoke she inhaled and we don't want to make it worse. If you would like, you may question her later in the hospital."

Jay frowned but didn't argue. As much as he didn't like to admit it, the medic was right, and she didn't seem to be in mortal danger. He could wait.  
"Of course. My apologies."

She got wheeled away into a waiting ambulance and Jay was left standing in the middle of the street, all his unasked questions still hanging on his lips. Unbidden, his thoughts turned back to Kai and he hoped that he'd gotten away in time. _Sending good thoughts to you Kai. Hope Skylor didn't get to you._


	8. The art of never quitting

**A/N: Hey everyone! Hope everyone is doing great and up for reading a longer chapter! Quick warning, this chapter is a bit more intense. It's not like gruesome, but it's different than the other ones I've written so far. You have been warned. Quick responses to reviews.**

**ItsYoGreenGirl: Hehe they're so not alone! Thank goodness Cole can bring that message back to Lloyd, Nya, and Kai! Also, I agree with you about Skylor killing Kai, that just wouldn't be cool at all.**

**Watcher321:Yeahhhh, we'll have to see about that. I'm all for Kai making it out too buuuuutt...You never know with these things.**

**Keep reviewing and ask questions if you want! I'll respond to them as much as I'm able and the plot allows! To those who've just started following, thanks so much! You have no idea how much I get excited when I get alerts about follows and reviews! Enjoy the chapter!**

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Kai was starting to get desperate. He'd tried his darndest to lose Skylor, but she hadn't given up yet. He'd even attempted the moves that sensei had just taught them when Lloyd had disappeared the first time and still she had kept up. He couldn't fight her, because as soon as she touched bare skin she would absorb his fire powers and use them against him. She'd also have them for a very long time, as her powers had more than likely gotten stronger since the last time they'd fought.

Kai turned a corner, hoping that it would lead to another street with greater opportunities to evade her. Instead, he was faced with a brick wall. A very high brick wall with virtually no handholds or ways to get up it. _First Spinjitzu Master. _He cursed silently, _how am I going to get out of this one? I thought for sure this led to another street._ Behind him, Skylor appeared, looking annoyingly triumphant when she saw that he was trapped.

"So, hit your end at last?" She smiled. Not the kind smile that she used to give him when he would make her laugh or roll her eyes, but a cynical smile that held no humor.

_I'm dead if she stops talking, there's almost no way I can beat her in a fight, she's been working out and probably fed better as well. _He swallowed, "It all depends Sky. Couldn't we talk about this? There's really no need to fight."

"No need to fight? In my view, I've been waiting for this for a long time. You've hurt too many people Kai, and I'm not letting you slip through my fingers this time." Between her fingers, a spark of lightning appeared, and Kai braced himself to fight her, "Honestly Sky-"

She zipped towards him and pinned him to the wall, holding a knife to his throat. "Never call me Sky." She hissed, her brown eyes flashing with barely controlled anger.

_Sorry about this. _He kicked her in the stomach, sending her back into the opposite wall.

She got up, breathing hard, with murder in her eyes. Kai dodged the lightning she tossed at him and threw a firebolt at her. She, in turn, dodged that and froze it over with a blast of ice. When she reached him, she executed a series of complicated punches and kicks designed to break down an opponent's guard. It worked, and Kai only managed to block some of them, barely getting any counterattacks in.

He backed away, fingers itching to draw his dagger, but he resisted the urge. Right now she was playing fair, and he didn't wanna be the one to mess that up.

Blocking a punch and throwing one of his own, he asked her, "Why do you hate me so much Skylor? Things were just fine one day and the next, you were gone!"

She didn't respond. On the bright side, even as she hammered him with attack after attack, she never once drew a weapon. She was beating him in the fight though. All of the elemental powers she seemed to have acquired she was using against him, including his own. Thankfully he was mostly fireproof. And by mostly he meant his skin and hair and much of his clothing.

There was only so long he could keep blocking, however. He dodged a bolt of lightning and threw a fireball at her. The energy he expended almost made him pass out. For the past few hours since he'd woken up, he'd successfully snuck into the most heavily fortified city in Ninjago, run away from people whose goal was to capture him, accidentally set a building on fire, expended even more energy not just getting people out of said burning building but also drawing the energy from the fire in an attempt to reduce the flames. Oh, and he'd also been trying to evade Skylor for nearly 20 minutes. Added to the fact he was drawing on his reserves of energy to use his elemental power, he had also only had a small breakfast and no lunch. Yay for low sugar.

One especially hard punch that he failed to block made him crash through a pile of timber and who knows what else into the wall, hitting his head on the hard, unforgiving brick that made up the wall behind him. His vision went white and exploded behind his eyes. The pain in his head gave him cause to worry. _I hope I don't have a concussion. _For the first time, he honestly considered just lying there. He considered just letting her kill him or do whatever she wanted to him. It would be so much easier to give up and give in to the darkness he could feel coming. And yet, he knew he couldn't. A quote from his sensei that he hadn't thought of for years and had kinda rolled his eyes at when it was said came back to him.

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_6 years prior_

Kai plopped down next to Jay, sweat pouring down his face, "Seriously, that last one was so tough, I almost wasn't able to finish!"

Jay nodded sympathetically, chugging down almost half a gallon of milk. He smacked his lips, "Hm, yeah, you're not kidding. HEY COLE, NO FAIR! YOU CHEATED!" He grunted angrily, "The nerve of him, being so good at that."

Kai debated for a minute, then leaned in closer, reaching over and grabbing the milk, "So, I have a strange and completely off-topic question. Have you ever thought of just... quitting? Hanging up your gi and being a normal teen?"

Jay leaned back, soaking up the sun as he considered this, "Nahhhh. Sure, it would be nice to be normal for once, but when you think about it, it wouldn't be worth it. Heck Nya and I would still have two years of school left, you'd be graduating, Lloyd would be a freshman and yet...be like I dunno how old he would look and Cole'd be an adult with a job and a life. He may even have a girlfriend or be married if Sensei Wu hadn't wrangled him to become a ninja. All of our lives would have been so different. It's not always a...fun job per se, but without it, I never would have met you all. Besides, you wouldn't quit anyway, it's not in your nature." Jay turned his attention back to the obstacle course, watching Cole jump over a particularly high obstacle. "YOU'RE A CHEATER COLE!" He yelled, shaking his fist.

Sensei Wu walked over to the two of them, drinking a cup of tea. "Remember Kai, 'A strong man knows when it would be wise to quit, but an even stronger man knows when he must push that desire and keep fighting."

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The words echoed around in his head. He couldn't quit, couldn't even think about quitting. Lloyd needed him. Cole needed him. Nya needed him. If he gave up now, not only would he be letting Skylor win, he'd be subjecting his friends to heartache and pain. Lloyd was still a walking bleeding heart (however he liked to deny it) and he would never leave Kai behind. He'd probably get killed or captured trying to rescue him.

This being decided, Kai forced himself to wake up. He forced himself to push past his weariness, fatigue, and pain. He forced his knee under him and began to get up, all of his bruised and strained muscles screaming at him to stop. He ignored them though. Instead of pushing his pain to the back of his mind and trying to ignore it, he used it to fuel him.

He felt mildly satisfied to hear the note of surprise in her voice, "How are you getting-oh never mind." She approached him and kicked him hard in the stomach, basically saying goodbye to rules of proper fighting. He collapsed, hitting his head hard on the pavement, seeing stars. He felt intense pressure in his back as she dug her knee into his shoulder blade, keeping him down quite effectively. He heard the _shick_ of a blade as it left its sheath and gasped at its coldness as it touched his throat, parting the skin and making it start to bleed.

"I could kill you right now." She considered, her knee still digging quite painfully into his shoulder blade. "No one would need to know it was me and maybe you could feel a hint of the pain I felt when I was constantly rejected and ignored day by day."

Kai closed his eyes, wishing she'd make it fast. He tried to struggle, but in vain, and the fact that he was trying to fight her just made her increase the pressure. He was completely pinned. His life flashed before his eyes, the first time he met his baby sister, their parent's funeral, the pain of being separated from Nya while they were in foster care, finally being old enough to convince a judge to let him take care of her, working so hard at the forge to make ends meet and coming up short every time, the despair he felt when she was captured, summoning fire into his palm for the first time, all the late-night pillow fights that had stopped as they got older and dealt with more, the first time Skylor kissed him, the moment he realized Lloyd was the Green Ninja, video game contests, all the times he fell hard and always one of his brothers were there to help him up again. So many memories flashed by in seconds and he waited for the darkness that was sure to come.  
But it didn't.

Skylor sighed and Kai began to breathe again, not sure if it was a good thing that she wasn't going to kill him. She removed her knife from his throat, "I can't though. As much as I may want to, Jay would know immediately that it was me." Her knife flicked and cut into his arm, but she didn't even acknowledge it. She returned the blade to its sheath and twisted his arm painfully behind his back. "Kai Smith, you are under arrest for treason against the emperor and arson. Anything you say from here on out can be used against you."

Kai bit back a groan of pain as she clipped vengestone-infused handcuffs on him. All the bruises and abrasions that he acquired were beginning to throb painfully now and the feeling as his elemental power was cut off from him physically hurt. He'd forgotten how it felt to no longer have that pulsing of red-hot fire inside of him. It did hurt, almost like having a part of him cut off.

Skylor considered her options. "I don't want to go parading through the streets and possibly incite a riot. So we'll be taking the rooftops. Can you climb with your hands behind your back?"

He stared at her, daring her to say that he couldn't and change her mind. She groaned, "Fine then. Climb."

_Well, this is gonna be a bit tricky._ He maneuvered himself so that his back was to the wall and climbed backward, scraping his hands on the wall in the process. She seemed a little bit surprised that he could do that, but she just grabbed his arm and began jogging in the direction of all the smoke. He was sure he could escape, once he was away, he could get Lloyd to break the cuffs and he'd have his power back, but he didn't want to get more injuries than he already had if he could help it and he especially didn't want to fall off the roofs and break his neck. That would be just swell.

In his estimation, they were about halfway there when he jumped over a gap between roofs and rammed Skylor, sending her flying a few feet away. The pain in his shoulder intensified, but he ignored it, wheeling around to bolt away.

She recovered quickly, getting onto her feet and sprinting after him, tackling him to the ground. He squirmed out from under her and got to his feet, trying to run off without tripping over himself. He heard her get up and he prepared to leap out of the way, expecting lightning, fire, or ice. He certainly was not expecting to get knocked off of his feet by a blast of...wind?

He slammed his head onto the lip of a building. _Oh yeah, I certainly have a concussion now. Thanks a lot, Skylor._

"Never do that again Kai." She growled, roughly grabbing his arm and heaving him to his feet.

"How-how did you-?"

She glared at him and he shut up. She was clearly daring him now to ask her out loud, but he couldn't. She couldn't stop him from wondering though. _How can she do that?_ The master of Wind, Morro, had died years ago, sent back to the Cursed Realm with the Preeminent. Skylor had never once come in contact with him when he was in Ninjago wreaking havoc, and when he had been sent back, the elemental power of wind had been lost along with him, at least, that's what they all thought. As far as they knew, Morro had never had an heir, so there was no one to pass the power on to, meaning that when he died, his power died with him. There was no known way to regift elemental powers (they had looked for a way for years) unless the original master had children who were worthy of receiving them. That's how he and Nya had gotten theirs, from their parents, the original masters of fire and water. If there was no way to regift a power, and Morro had died without having any children, how could Skylor have gotten the power in the first place? Unless...there was a way to regift powers and they just had never found it. It was common knowledge that Sensei Wu frequently kept things from them either because he didn't feel like they were ready for it or because he didn't have all the answers either. Could he have known that there was an artifact capable of reviving lost elemental powers and giving them to someone else? And if there really was such a thing, did that mean that the power of time had been revived as well? What did that mean for his family on the run? And if this was true, how could he warn them about what could be coming, an attack from new masters of wind, time and whatever other elements had died out that they didn't know about.

He kept glancing over at Skylor, wishing she'd say something, anything that would give him a hint as to how she got that power. But nothing was forthcoming and he just mulled over all the implications of this. When they got closer to where the fire was still being extinguished, the smell of smoke made his brain want to shut down. All he wanted at this moment was to get away from this whole area, get away from the terrible memories that the smell and the overall feeling in the air was. He hated it when this happened, when the PTSD that he tried so hard to keep at bay overwhelmed him and stressed him out, making him nervous and jump at the slightest sound.

"This is what I mean." She finally said, turning him to look at where the fire had started.

It was terrible. Coming back to the spot was bad enough, but he was seeing it from fresh eyes and he could see part of why she hated him so much. The damage was everywhere. Not only on the buildings, but on the street too, as pieces of burned and charred rubble were everywhere, making it dangerous just to walk around the street. The helicopter in the business building (he could see now that it was a hotel), was almost completely gone now, burned to a crisp with all of the metal dripping off into searing hot puddles on the pavement. No one would be able to even begin moving it until it had completely cooled off because they would risk burning their hands. He could tell now that there was no way that the pilots and the gunner could have gotten out before it crashed into the hotel. The impact alone probably killed them.

The hotel was much worse. It was almost completely collapsed in certain places, with the rest of the building almost collapsing itself. It was only a matter of time before something inside shifted and the whole thing came crashing down, hurting more people and possibly killing them as well. Add that to the knowledge that there were definitely some people that they missed that probably choked to death on the smoke, or were pinned by the falling timber and rubble and they just couldn't hear their cries for help, and Kai felt so...crushed. It was all his fault those people died. All his fault that there were people who were in the hospital for injuries that could take weeks to heal completely, not to mention those that would never mentally recover from what had happened. At that moment, Kai was almost glad he wouldn't be able to do any more damage.

Skylor apparently was satisfied with his reaction, because she led him to the edge of the building.

He gave her a look, "Um, do you expect me to jump down? Because if you want me to bust up my ankle as well as my head, well then I have no objections to this."

She rolled her eyes and Kai grinned, glad to get a familiar reaction out of her. She made an ice slide down and gestured for him to get going. To rub it in, Kai leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, "Thanks a lot Sky."

He practically ran to the slide and pushed off, getting a quick look at her reaction as he passed her. Rage, pure rage. _Yeaah I'm gonna pay for that one later._

He waited for her at the bottom of the slide, watching her until she also reached the bottom. She strode over to him and punched him in the face. Kai staggered back, trying to regain his balance. Skylor just roughly grabbed his arm and practically dragged him to where a young man, dressed in blue and silver, was studying a tablet and making notes. It registered briefly that he looked kinda familiar from the back.

"I told you I could get him," Skylor stated, trying to get his attention.

The young man raised his head from the tablet and Kai again thought how strangely familiar he looked. Then he turned around and it all made sense. It was Jay, good old Jay. Sitting right in front of him wearing the silver of Garmadon's army and the blue of his elemental power.

If he hadn't been staring at him, surprised that it was him, he wouldn't have noticed a flicker of...sadness? Seriously? That couldn't have been right. No, because it was quickly replaced by cold indifference that chilled Kai right to the bone. There was no way that was Jay. The Jay he knew was all goofing around, always laughing. This cold, heartless person in front of him could not be Jay.

"Well. It's good to see you again Kai." He said softly, and for a second, he was familiar. He turned into his sister's fiancé, the one who was one day supposed to be his real brother.

"Jay." He responded, trying to keep his voice from breaking.

Jay bit his lip, a nervous tic he obviously hadn't gotten rid of yet and turned to Skylor, who was still looking at him expectantly, "Yes, good job Skylor, I've got him from here."

She nodded, "Yes sir. Permission to use the tablet to locate Zane?"

"Permission granted. Put it back afterward."

Kai almost groaned aloud in relief when her hand left his arm. He wished he could rub it, but noo, his hands were cuffed. Dang it.

When Jay grabbed his arm to guide him, he was surprised at how light his grip was. He remembered Jay being a lot stronger with his grip than this. Then it occurred to him that Jay probably knew what it was like to have Skylor holding onto your arm and was going easy on his arm so he wouldn't lose circulation. How kind. He knew that Jay wouldn't just let him run off, besides the fact that it would be really dangerous to run off right now, but at the same time, he knew that Jay held no ill will towards him. _And thank goodness, the last thing I need is Jay mad at me too._

**A/N: Sorry guys, I know that was long. Not to worry though, the next chapter was originally apart of this one, so it'll be shorter than this one because I split it in half. Thanks!**


	9. When in doubt, give someone a hug

**A/N: The promised second part of the last chapter. This was originally gonna be at the end of the last chapter, but the extra 1000 words would have made it WAYYY too long, so I reluctantly cut the end and put it here! Continue reading and reviewing and if you haven't already, check out the two-shot that was supposed to be a one-shot and tell me what you think! Alrighty, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Jay led Kai to a city police car, helping him into the back and then going to the front seat and starting the car. They drove in silence for a minute, both trying to decide what to say. Jay finally ventured, "Life on the run has been good to you Kai."

Kai grunted, knowing what Jay was after.

Jay sighed, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. Then he summoned electricity to the tip of his finger and touched a spot on his dashboard and tracking computer.

"There, now they can't hear or track us." He parked in an abandoned parking lot and turned and removed the bars separating him and Kai.

"What in the FSM are you doing?" Kai asked.

Jay blinked innocently, "Oh, nuthin." His voice abruptly changed from the cold voice he'd been using up till now to his normal voice that had just a hint of a whine that he used to use when he was joking around. Just that simple change in voice made Kai want to hug him so bad his chest ached. It had been a little bit over a year and a half since he'd last seen him and he already looked so different

"Jay, I don't know if this is such a good idea. Why are you doing this?"

Jay sighed, "Many reasons. First things first, I am so sorry Kai, but I can't let you go. They'd figure out it was me and I'd get dishonorably discharged and killed. I've seen it happen to other people for smaller crimes than letting a wanted criminal go free."

Kai was confused, "Then why are you doing this?"

"Because I know what's going to happen to you Kai, and I feel responsible."

"What's gonna happen, Jay?"

"I don't know if I should-"

"Jay, look at me. Chances are I'm never going to see Nya, or Cole, or Lloyd ever again. I know what I'm in for, at least part of it. Now, will you please tell me why you're acting so nice? If it's for a confessi-"

"Nonononono, it's not for that. I swear. Truth is, I miss you guys like mad. I may be in a pretty good spot right now but I hate it. You guys are my family and I'm being ordered to hunt you down and turn you in for torture and extermination, especially Lloyd. A pretty high promotion is set up for anyone who finds him and just about everyone is actively searching for all of you. None of you are safe. The truth is, I'm in as bad a position as you are."

Kai was quiet. They had prepared for this eventuality almost since Jay had left. They all knew that this could and probably would happen at some point, the only question had been when. He just couldn't believe it had been him. And by Skylor none the less.

He glanced at Jay. He did look legitimately upset, and Kai could tell he was telling the truth. "Jay, I do believe you. And I've missed you too. I've missed you so bad that it hurts. Life just isn't the same without you, Zane, Skylor, and PIXAL, Sensei, and Misako."

Jay was quiet for a minute, "Do you wish that things had been different?"

Kai shrugged, "Yes and no. A lot of bad things have happened, present situation included, but a lot of good things have happened too. Now I know that Skylor and I weren't right for each other, and I've never been closer to Nya. I get that you can't set me free, but I can see good things in this too. It's better to have two men on the inside then just one."

Jay tapped his fingers on the armrest, another nervous tic that he had used to do obsessively in the past. _He hasn't changed one bit, just his appearance._

He looked Kai in the eyes, "They're going to try and break you Kai, and they'll probably succeed."

Kai nodded, trying to sound nonchalant, "Yeah, I know. Can you do me a favor Jay? I have a note for all of them in my pocket. Can you find a way to get it to them?"

Jay took it out of Kai's pocket and transferred it to his, trying to figure out how to get it to Nya safely.

Kai counted to ten, trying to calm his nerves and find his center. He nodded to Jay, "I'm ready. Thank you, Jay."

Jay smiled at him, then unexpectedly climbed over the chair and gave him a hug, a nice long one.

Kai hadn't been prepared for this, so he stiffened, but then he relaxed and let the hug soak through him. He coughed, the reflex hurting his smoke-damaged lungs. "Ummm, Jay?"

Jay detangled himself, looking embarrassed, "Oh yeah, there's only so much of a delay I can blame on traffic." He paused, "I really am sorry Kai, whatever it's worth."

Kai allowed a trace of a smile to his lips, "Trust me, Jay, to a man in my position, it's worth a lot. Besides, maybe I'll be able to learn something. It's not every day someone gets into this position."

He really hoped that Jay's powers of observation were a bit rusty. He had a talent for being able to discern when someone was lying or trying to trick him. Because as much as he didn't like to or even want to admit it, he was really scared. If Jay was to ask him what the truth was, he would say that he wished Jay was able to let him go. He suspected that there was more to the reasoning of not letting him go that Jay just plain wasn't saying, but what could he ask him? He was already in violation of his orders by even talking to him about this, he couldn't ask more than that. Not to mention it may be helpful to all of them if they had Jay on the inside. So, he let everything go. He forgot everything and anything they would find useful and asked Jay to recite useless facts to fill his brain with instead.

Jay happily obliged, and as he began to babble on and on about how the price of tea, bubblegum, and propane had gone up almost 6.356% in the last two years (or something along those lines, he kinda tuned him out to the back of his brain), Kai said a silent goodbye to Nya and to everyone else, promising that he would do all he could to wait for them to come for him, no matter how long it may take.


	10. Bro talk (lots of it)

**A/N: Hey ya'll! Welcome to everyone and thanks for the reviews and feedback I've gotten from the last chapter. This one was supposed to be a lot different than it turned out, but I'm pretty happy with it. Keep reading/reviewing your thoughts and if you have any questions, PM me. I'll try my best to answer them without giving away any of the plot to come. Alright, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Jay watched Kai from the rearview mirror, feeling horrible. He was sentencing him to death because he didn't have tenure, and that was all there is to it. Kai wouldn't even hesitate to let him go free if their positions were reversed, but Jay was too afraid of being found out to set him free. It wouldn't even be all that hard either; he'd done it before with Nya only the night before. Just have Kai rough him up a bit, call for reinforcements and then claim that he fought his way out. The only problem was, Skylor had been the one to capture him, and because both Zane and she knew that he was still seeing Nya as of last night, they'd immediately see right through it and report him. Zane always, always knew when he someone was lying, and chances were he wouldn't be able to keep it a secret.

_I just can't do it. I'm so, so sorry Kai, but I can't._

As he drove, he continued sneaking glances at Kai. He was staring out of the window, probably saying goodbye to his sister. Oh, shoot, Nya. What was he gonna say to her when she inevitably asked him where her brother was? She was gonna kill him. He tried to imagine their conversation in his head, but each time that he tried to, it ended up with him injured or possibly dead. Not a good ending to this conversation either way.

He turned into the palace gates, showing his ID to be allowed access and drove to the back. Kai continued to say nothing, just staring out of the window in silence that threatened to crush Jay.

"Kai-"

"I don't want to talk, Jay, there isn't anything to say. Just do what you need to do and leave me alone."

He hated this, he truly did. The fact that he had chosen this life, the very idea that he couldn't even let one of his best friends go free was repulsive to him. Honestly, he didn't know what he was thinking that night he decided to switch sides, couldn't even remember much of it at all, but now that he was stuck with this decision, he wished he could tell his past self not to do it. Not to make that decision because it would affect everything.

What was wrong with him? He'd faced so many dangerous and life-threatening things in the past, why was this any different in his head? And yet, here he was, pulling Kai out of the car and marching him down to the dungeons, handing him to other guards who would deposit him in his cell and leave him there.

"Long live the emperor!" The guard he passed Kai to stated by way of dismissal.

"Long live the emperor," He repeated, turning around to go back up the stairs. He had to report to the emperor on the status of the fire and Kai's capture.

"Jay! Commander Jay!"

He turned around, automatically reverting to 'in command Jay'. "Ah, yes, Harumi. How can I help you?"

Harumi slowed down, a bit out of breath from running, "I heard some rumors about the past few hours and you have a new assignment."

"Alright, go ahead."

"First, status on the fire from what you've last heard. I can report to Emperor Garmadon for you."

"Ok, the fire is mostly contained in sections 1 and 3. We're still working on sections 2 and 4, but we have Zane on our side and loads of firemen, so we should be good on that end. There was something I wanted to check out. A young woman by the name of Keala Boltar was found in the alleyway beside the main building that originally started the fire. It seemed a bit suspicious to me, so I was gonna take a team and ask her some questions when she's cleared from the hospital."

"Alright, perfect. Now on the subject of one Kai Smith-"

"Umm, yes, Skylor Chen was the one to apprehend him. I was given the task of transporting him here and he is now in custody. Is there any specific statement we're making to the rebels?"

Harumi finished scribbling on her clipboard and tucked it under her arm, "That's a bit above your pay grade. If we require your assistance we will let you know."

"Of course. My apologies. What is this new assignment?"

"We want you to actively begin searching for the rebels. Emperor Garmadon figures that it's high time we get them out of the way instead of letting them remain. You're our best soldier Jay, the best we have on the force. Why we haven't put you on this and only this before now is beyond me. I know I can trust you to get the job done in a matter of weeks. So, we're having you put all of your attention on finding out where their hideouts and places of refuge are and either destroying them or watching them. Can we count on you to have them in our prisons in a month?"

Jay was horrified. She was kidding, right? There was no way that she'd make him do this. He couldn't do it. It was bad enough that he'd had to turn Kai in, but expecting him to do that same with the rest of them and knowing that if he failed or let them go, everyone would know it was him. There was no way he'd be able to get out of it. Still, he was backed into a corner, he couldn't refuse the assignment, that would be handing in his resignation and he needed to stay in here so he'd be able to help Nya when she went after Kai. So, he swallowed his fear and terror that he was going to do this and nodded sharply to Harumi, "Of course I'll do it. You can count on me."

* * *

Nya paced back and forth, starting to wear down a groove in the dirt. Lloyd just sat completely still, listening for sounds that signaled the return of the rest of his team.

"Where are they?" She questioned frantically, biting her nails, "They should have been back hours ago."

Lloyd got up, laying a hand on her shoulder, "They'll be fine. You'll see." He hugged her, trying to hide how worried he was. What if they had both been careless and caught the attention of guards or something? What if it was only Nya and he left to resist Garmadon? What if-no, he couldn't think like that. They'd be back, laughing at how ridiculous they were for worrying so much.

Nya broke away from the hug, still worried, but a little more relaxed, "Thanks Lloyd, I needed tha-Oh my gosh, Cole!"

She ran over to Cole, who was limping towards them. "Whoa, whoa Nya, gently please. It's been quite a day."

Nya hugged him, "Why do you smell like smoke?" She asked, helping him sit down, "And what did you do to your ankle?"

"It's a long story. When did Kai get back?"

Lloyd stopped, staring at Cole, "Isn't he with you?"

"You mean he's not...here?"

Nya shook her head, "I think you'd better tell us what happened."

So he did. It was terrible. Apparently, he and Kai had accidentally set some kind of a building on fire trying to escape guards and Cole had busted his ankle trying to save a girl from the building. Kai had left almost 15 minutes before he did, and he was able to run much faster than Cole.

Nya covered her mouth with her hands, "Kai's not here. What if he-"

"Can't be." Lloyd stated, "Kai's way too smart for that. Maybe he wasn't clear where our rendevous was and is somewhere else. He also might be making sure no one is following him. Just wait, Nya, he'll be here. We just need to be patient and give him time.

So they did. He still wasn't there later that afternoon or that evening. By the time 9 o'clock rolled around and he still hadn't shown up, Nya got to her feet, still trying to stay strong, but determined to do something.

"I'll be right back. I have to go talk to someone real quick. They might know where he is. I should be back later."

"Nya-" Lloyd started, but she cut him off.

"Sorry Lloyd, but this is my brother we're talking about here. I'll be careful and I trust this guy. I'll be ok. Just stay here and keep watch for him." That said, she grabbed something from her bag and set off running in the direction of Ninjago City.

Cole sighed, adjusting the positioning of his ankle, "She does that a lot."

Lloyd turned to him, "Soooooooo, about this girl..."

Cole laughed, "Hehe, nope. Besides, I don't know anything about her. She did tell me this to tell you though, 'Not all are against you. Some of us haven't bought into the emperor's propaganda. When you come next, there will be an army waiting to assist you.'"

Lloyd was silent for a minute, processing this, "That's-really encouraging actually. What do you think she meant by an army?"

Cole shrugged, "Beats me. But at least we know that we aren't fighting what the people want. Some people do believe that you're justified in what you're doing."

"Yeah, at least I don't really have to wonder if I'm doing the right thing. Not that that stops me anyways."

Cole picked up a ball and threw it at Lloyd, who caught it deftly and threw it back, "Are you having a hard time? You don't talk to us anymore, so we have no idea if there's something on your mind."

Lloyd caught the ball again and held it in his palm, considering what he wanted to say, "I'm not doing too good, to be honest. This whole thing is stressing me out, and I'm not sleeping very well. I know that I can't go back on what I've decided, but sometimes I do wonder if I'd be much better off if I had given in instead of resisting it. Maybe life would be horrible, but it must be better than this. Not to mention-" He paused, trying to decide how to word something, "I've started having nightmares and anxiety attacks again."

Cole was quiet, "I'm so, so sorry Lloyd. I had no idea. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I suppose I was just embarrassed to say anything to all of you. As much as they don't say it, I'm still the heir apparent. I'm supposed to have it all together. I'm older now, more mature, and yet, I can't seem to keep myself from falling apart."

"Maybe you shouldn't worry about being the only one to keep yourself together all the time. We're always here to support you Lloyd, and that's what we want to do. I don't want you to always feel like you have to do it all on your own."

Lloyd sat silently. It felt good to tell someone about this. But he hated feeling like this, like a kid who couldn't grow up, no matter how hard he wanted to.

"You've got something else on your mind Lloyd," Cole observed softly.

"I can't do this. I just can't. I've been trying for years to stop feeling this way and as time passes, it only gets worse! How am I supposed to get anything done if I can't even keep myself from having nightmares and panic attacks?"

"Feeling like what Lloyd?"

"Like I can't seem to get past my own problems and do what is right. All of you seem to have mastered it, but I still have issues no matter how hard I try. It's always something. I'm not a normal person, I know that, but it's getting harder and harder to act like I am. Eventually, I'm gonna break, and I'm dreading the day I do because that means I will become completely and utterly worthless. I'll be the Green Ninja, but I won't be able to do a thing. I will be completely and utterly broken."

"That's where you haven't been paying much attention, Lloyd. We have all gone through that moment when we realize that if we don't do something about it, we will all break like fragile glass. We just found out what we needed to do to stay together, if only temporarily."

Lloyd was quiet again, and Cole let him think. It was true; they had all gone through what Lloyd was going through. All of them had been ripped away from what should have been a normal life to become ninja and harness their elemental powers. Did he regret it? Nope. They all were what they are because of everything that had happened when they were younger. If he hadn't accepted Wu's offer, he'd probably be a lumberjack, hating every second of his normal life. But it would also be so much easier than this. He wouldn't be as messed up as he was, none of them would be.

"No one expects you to act normal all the time Lloyd." He said softly, "Out of all of us you've had the worst time with all of this. You sacrificed your childhood to make sure that we could be older. You have suffered the most out of all of us. Everyone understands that you have a hard time."

"They shouldn't have to," Lloyd said glumly.

"Let me know if you need anything, Lloyd. I want to help you in any way I can."

"Alright, thanks, Cole. Hey, if you want to go to sleep, I'll keep watch for Nya and wake you up when she gets back. Hopefully, she'll have some news on Kai."

"Are you sure about that? I could stay up if you want company." He offered.

Lloyd shook his head, "Nah, you need to sleep. I'll wake you up when she gets back."

Cole headed to the back of the cave to sleep, leaving Lloyd alone with his thoughts. Maybe he didn't have to feel like it always had to be him. Maybe it would be easier to ask for people to help him out instead of bearing it all alone. _I wonder where Nya is. Hopefully, she can find out more about Kai. I hope he's ok. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him..._


	11. Don't go breaking my heart

**A/N: Ok, ok, so I know what you're thinking, "WoW unicorn, two chapters in two days!" Yeah, don't get used to it. The creative juices were flowing and I had to take the opportunity. Hope everyone liked the last chapter, what with that talk between Cole and Lloyd and Jay generally feeling terrible, but it gets worse! Prepare for a bit of maybe tear-jerking in this chapter, because I'm just a terrible terrible person XD. As always, please review and follow if you like it and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Enjoy!**

* * *

As Nya ran, she tried to think about how to phrase the question to Jay. She couldn't really just spring it on him, but if he did know something...then chances were that he would jump straight to the point. She felt terrible for leaving Cole and Lloyd as abruptly as she did, but she couldn't tell them where she was going or who she was going to see, so she had to leave and hope they'd be ok.

Her andJay had realized that eventually one of them would need the other in-between visits, so they had set up a system to be able to contact each other safely. It was a bit off of the road, so she steered off and trekked through the jungle to a small dip in the ground. It took a bit of searching, but in the end, she was able to find exactly what she was looking for. A small cage with birds inside, with plenty of seeds and water for them, along with a desk with writing paper and a pen. As soon as he got this, he would come to where she was. The only problem was waiting.

Once she sent the bird off in the direction of Ninjago City, she sat down to wait for him to come, trying not to think about where Kai might be. There was so much in her head that her brain just jumped from thought to thought, never stopping long enough to dwell on something. An hour passed. If she was feeling alright, she would be worried about falling asleep, but she was way too wired to worry about that.

The crackle of twigs brought her to her feet, hand on her trident, ready to throw it and defend herself.

"I got the bird Nya," Jay said, striding into the clearing.

"Oh my goodness, Jay, you scared me. Would it kill you to announce yourself next time?"

"Hehe, sorry Nya. Anyways, what is it?" He looked nervous, making Nya instantly suspicious.

"I think you know Jay Walker," She told him, hoping he'd tell the truth.

"It's about Kai isn't it?"

"Yes Jay, yes it is. Now tell me, where is my brother?"

"He-uh..."

"Jay, I'm warning you. Just spit it out or so help me, dating or no, I will not hesitate to attack you."

"Look Nya, I'm sorry, there wasn't anything I could do. He asked me to give you this." He took an envelope out of one of his many pockets and offered it to her.

She took it, venom filling her eyes, "How could you?" She spat, taking a knife out of her belt and gripping it tightly, "We made a deal Jay. You promised me!"

"I couldn't let him go Nya! They'd know it was me and I would probably be dead now."

"Say it out loud Jay, where is my brother?"

"He's-he's sitting in a Ninjago prison."

She wanted to burn him down with only her eyes. How DARE he? Kai was her brother for goodness sake. Jay had made a promise a long time ago to not let any of them get captured if he could help it and now, there they were. Kai was going to die, and it was entirely his fault.

"Go." She told him, barely bothering to contain her anger, "Go away, I don't want to see your face. I'll let you know if I ever want to see you again. Don't count on it though."

Jay gave her one glance, about to say something, but closed his mouth and ran off, disappearing into the night.

As soon as he was gone, she collapsed onto the floor, feeling numb inside. Her brother, her other half, was right now sitting in a prison cell. He probably knew he wasn't going to make it, and it broke her heart. So she let the tears come, sobbing on the forest floor with no one but the animals and the sky to hear her. He was never coming back, she probably wasn't going to be able to see him again. They could try to get him out, but that was practically a suicide mission. There simply weren't enough of them now. Kai was gone.

She didn't know how long she lay there, trying to take control of herself enough to go back and break the news to the others. She remembered the letter Jay had given to her and pulled it out, smoothing out the crinkles and trying to read through vision blurry with tears. It had three sheets of paper in it, one for Cole, one for Lloyd, and one for her. She pulled out her sheet and read:

_My dear Nya,_

_I don't know what may have happened to prompt me to give you this letter or to give it to someone else for you. All I know is, something has happened to me, and I'm either dead or going to be. I wish I could be wherever you are with you, but since that isn't to be, here's what I want you to remember.__  
__1\. Don't lose your joy in life. You've gone through a lot and you are incredibly strong. I'm so proud of who you are and how I'm connected to you. You have the ability to see the good in other people, and to bring that out, while still being tough as nails at the same time.__  
__2\. Support Lloyd. That kid is going to need your help to accomplish what needs to be done, and you've always had a special connection with him that none of us will ever understand. Keep him going when you know he can do it, and give him a hand up when he falls.__  
__3\. Never lose hope. Sometimes, when times seem the worst, that's when something is most likely to turn up. Whether it is a bottle of rain-proof hair gel when you walk outside and realize the weather is NOT what the forecast said it would be, or a small light in the middle of so much darkness, showing you the way to go.__  
__4\. Trust your instincts. They've almost never been wrong before, so go with your gut.__  
__5\. Find the dolphins in the ocean. You know what I mean :)__  
__6\. Reconcile with Jay. That argument you guys had was plain silly, and I'm frankly surprised that both of you were too prideful to come back together after all this time. Everyone has their flaws sis, so accept his and move on.__  
__7\. Don't spend all of your time mourning me. Ok, maybe spend a little bit of time, but don't let it ruin your life. People still need you. A day will come when they won't anymore, but until then, you do what needs to be done.__  
__I wish I could have been there for all of what life has ahead of you Nya. From the first time you were able to correct me for trying to steal some of mom's cookies (they were very delicious by the way) to now you telling us what to do and sharing the burden of leadership, I am so, so proud of you. I don't regret any of what has happened, besides, every man has to die some way. I just hope it was something heroic, like dying from getting trampled by peacocks would be just lame. Don't put that on my gravestone. I hope that made you crack a smile, if only a little bit.__  
__I have to go now Nya. We're attempting this crazy thing tomorrow and I want to be able to be well-rested and able to function. You know how I get when I don't get enough beauty sleep.__  
__I love you Nya. Keep doing what you do best and tell your kids all about me and how handsome I was._

_All my love,__  
__Kai_

She folded up the letter and placed it carefully back into the envelope, tucking it into her pocket. He'd spent a lot of time on that, and she didn't want to disappoint him. So, she got up and began to slowly walk in the right direction towards their hideout, trying not to dwell on what she had to tell everyone else. One thing was for certain though, there was no way that she was gonna let that be the last time she heard his voice in her head. Whatever it took, she was going to convince Lloyd that they had to at least try to break him out. So, she began running, determined to not allow Kai to stay in that jail cell one moment longer than he had to.

* * *

It took some time, but she made it back to the cave. She spotted Lloyd, sitting by himself next to a crackling fire, deep in thought.

He noticed her immediately, "Nya, you're back! Wait for a second, let me wake up Cole." He went to the back to wake up Cole and Nya sank down on the ground, trying to arrange her thoughts so she didn't start crying in the middle of talking.

Lloyd came back, helping Cole, who sat down next to her, "Alright, so, what's the news? Where's Kai?"

She took a deep breath, "My source told me that-um-Kai was taken into custody-" she paused, trying not to cry again, "This afternoon. Right now he's still in Ninjago in the palace prison." She managed to keep it together for maybe 5 seconds, then she started crying again, "He had these for us." She handed, them the envelope, taking hers out. Nya tried to get control of herself, not wanting to be an emotional mess. She waited for them to read their notes.

Lloyd folded his up, looking sad as well. For the longest time, they didn't speak, just sat there trying not to be emotional. Not that it was working out very well for her, but whatever.

"We have to do something," Cole said slowly, breaking the silence, "We can't just leave him there."

Lloyd nodded, "I agree, but we can't get in by ourselves, that'd be practically asking for them to catch us too. We'd need a plan."

As they discussed what to do back and forth, Nya noticed a smaller piece of paper inside of the envelope Kai had sent, folded up really small and stuck into the corner. Curious, she pulled it out, unfolding it to read.

_Nya,_

_I realize you probably hate me now and won't want to read much of anything from me, but I wanted to warn you so you could warn the others. I have been assigned to active duty on the "problem" of you guys. Everyone believes that I'll have all of you in custody by the time the month is out. I don't know what I'll do, but I have to warn you to be very careful. Anything you do that someone notices will be reported to me and I'll have to act on it. Please be careful with what you do. I really am sorry about this whole thing with Kai. At the first chance I get, I will help you to break him out, but I'd suggest you hurry. They have been working on procedures to get rid of all of you. Please know how much I love you._

_Love,__  
__Jay_

Nya contemplated the letter. She considered crumpling it up and throwing it into the fire, but she folded it again and laid it next to Kai's letter in her pocket. _How am I gonna warn them?_

Lloyd and Cole were still trying to figure out a way to break Kai out safely.

"Umm, guys, there's one other thing." She interjected, gaining their attention, "The person I talked to also told me that someone has been assigned to find us and hunt us down."

"Who?" Lloyd asked, worried.

"Jay. They assigned Jay to find us."

Cole's mouth dropped open, "Sparky? But I thought he was still on penance charges."

Nya shook her head, "Apparently he's now the third in command of the army. He's been assigned specifically to find us and to bring us in or kill us. There's no in-between."

"Wow, I can't believe he could do that. I think it's time that you tell us who this contact is." Lloyd asked, searching her eyes.

Nya sighed, "Sorry guys, I can't, for his safety. Just know that he is a VERY reliable source with inside links to just about everywhere. If we need anything specific on that end, he's the man to ask. And he is sympathetic to our cause, so there's that."

Cole added some wood to the fire, thinking hard, "Actually, I may have a plan to be able to break Kai out. I just don't know how long it would take to come together."

"Well, I'm willing to hear anything right now. Whatcha got?" Lloyd asked.

"Well, the only problem is that I don't know where she lives or even what her name is. She may be able to help us out though."

"And by she you mean..?"

"I mean the girl I saved from the fire. There are only so many places she could be; Ninjago Central Hospital is one of them. I'll go _carefully_ tomorrow and see if I can find her. We will need her help."


	12. You can't fool this girl

**A/N: Ok, honestly guys do not get used to this. Creativity is just coming through at a swift pace, but who knows when it'll slow down? Here's another chapter to enjoy! As always, please review your thoughts on the chapter and any questions you have. If I can answer them without giving away the plot, I will definitely do so. So far, I have quite a bit planned, so this story is not dying yet! It may take a while, but I can promise you that I should be able to finish it. I already have a sequel planned haha. Soo, enjoy and tell me your thoughts/ideas/something you liked. I love feedback!**

**ItsYoGreenGirl: Trust me, I was crying as I wrote it. That was a first for me, writing something emotional like that, so I'm glad it wasn't too overboard either way. We are gonna try to break them out, the question is definitely, will it work though? You can never know with these things XD. But seriously, I'm glad you liked it.**

**CheezPretzel: Yeahh, Nya's having a hard time. But you know these kids, they always get up again and strike back. Let's all hope she'll be ok and mayybbeeee forgive Jay. We'll see though, I make no promises.**

* * *

Very early the next morning, Cole headed out for Ninjago City. He imagined to everyone else it seemed like a rather long shot, hoping to find one girl in a hospital with probably hundreds of people inside, but he figured he could narrow it down by starting with new arrivals and then even more by those said new arrivals leaving within the next day or two. _This shouldn't be too hard._

He was even more careful than he had been before, trying to make sure no one could look at him straight in the eyes and not attracting any attention to himself. This was just plain dangerous, especially the day after he'd helped create a major catastrophe and one of his friends had been captured and sent to prison. Ever since Nya had come back with the news that Kai wasn't coming back unless they went in after him, he'd been up almost all night trying to formulate a plan that might work. So far, all he'd gotten was finding a way to talk to the young woman he'd saved and see if she'd be willing to help and then using Nya's contact to sneak into the palace and get Kai out of there as soon as possible.

What wasn't surprising to him was how easy it was to get into the city. Security was much tighter, yes, but not nearly tight enough to make it impossible for him to get in without people noticing and trying to stop him. What was surprising was how crazy the media was going over the capture of "one of those rebels". All of the giant screens that hung all over the city were talking and commenting nonstop on the events of the day before. There was an old picture of Kai that had been dug up out of the archives somewhere and was now being very widely circulated. It was one of Cole's favorites of the ones that had been taken of them. The full picture was Kai turning at the camera and winking while Lloyd, Nya, Cole, and Jay laughed at how ridiculous he was being. He could remember that day very clearly. Lately, rumors had been going around that they were all dead and that the palace just hadn't come out with it yet, so Jay had come up with a plan to get caught on camera "accidentally" so that people would know that they weren't dead. Everyone had agreed heartily to this plan and when they had found a camera that would work for their circumstances, Kai had turned and winked at it as it snapped a picture, sending them all into laughter as they ran off. The last time he'd seen the whole picture, it was mostly the same, but someone had digitally edited Jay out, so it just looked like the four of them. _They probably edited Jay out so that the people wouldn't be reminded that he used to agree with us, _thought Cole sadly.

Ninjago Central Hospital was almost smack dab in the middle of the city and had nearly 20 floors. The great thing about whoever had designed it, they'd made it so that the people who would be staying there longer were nearer to the top, and the emergency room and people who were staying there for only a few days were nearer to or at the bottom. _Alright, here's the plan. Find a way to get in, find the girl, ask some questions, get out. That's all._

He slipped out of the crowd and into the alleyway, being careful with his ankle. A good night's sleep had done wonders on it, but he didn't want to risk injuring it again. _Thank goodness Ninjago City has a lot of alleyways, otherwise, a lot of the things we do wouldn't work_.

He tried to think of a way to get in. Climbing up and looking window to window was just plain creepy, but he couldn't just waltz in the front doors without a plan. He was wearing street clothes, so he at least looked normal, but his hair was wayyy too distinctive, so he pulled it back into a man bun, chuckling when he remembered how everyone used to tease him when he did that. He was trying to think about how to get inside when he heard voices near the front of the hospital. It almost sounded like... no way-it sounded like guards from the palace! This was way too perfect! If he could knock out one of the guards and use his uniform, he could go just about anywhere and ask any questions he needed to and people would have to answer him! What luck!

Almost giddy from how perfect this was, he speed-walked to the front of the hospital, pulling out a magazine and sitting down on a bench where he could watch the goings-on. Almost as soon as he began observing, he noticed one guard who he could pass for quite easily. They were about the same height, with black hair. Cole was probably much stronger than him, but as long as he didn't engage in any arm wrestling contests, he'd be fine. He was again ruminating on how perfect this opportunity was when he spotted Jay. He was so different. But different in a good way, which was strange, considering he was now actively searching for the rest of them. He had this air of authority to him now that Cole had only felt coming off of him a few times, whenever he was under extreme stress. When he spoke, people listened and seemed happy to do it. _Hehe, who knew? Sparky can lead more than he would let on, _he chuckled to himself, _Oop, here they come. _He again looked as if he was absorbed in his magazine and as soon as they passed him and went into the lobby, he followed, trying to figure out how to knock that guard out and take his place without anyone noticing.

He would say later that it was pure luck that the guy was in the back, and even more lucky that he was able to get him away from the group and knock him out and hide him in a nearby broom closet and replace him with no one noticing.

_Being a guard has got to be the most boring job in all of Ninjago. All you get to do is stand around at attention and try not to die of boredom. I suppose it's working out pretty good for me though. _He complained silently, following everyone else to the elevator and standing silent as Jay pressed the button to get to floor 3. _Ugh, now I need a plan to get away and try to find her. How am I gonna do that? Well, I've been lucky so far, maybe I'll get lucky again. What am I thinking, this is ridiculous! I'm rarely as lucky as this. _He paid attention as Jay began speaking.

"Now everyone, remember the plan. Janelle and Alice are with me, Stan, Roger, and Stephen stand outside the door and keep watch. No goofing off like this time, understood?"

There was a chorus of 'yes sir' from everyone. Jay nodded satisfactorily, then glanced at Cole. He rubbed his eyes, "Roger, I could have sworn that you looked... I dunno, different somehow."

For a second, Cole panicked. He forced himself to stay calm though, keeping his face devoid of any of the panic that just ripped through him, "Well, sorry sir, but if I may, I would think you're just tired. It's been a pretty rough couple of days." He smiled at Jay, hoping he'd go for it and not pursue the matter.

"You have no idea," Jay muttered, turning around and ending the conversation.

Suddenly, Cole felt rather bad for him. He looked so tired, so done, that he found himself wondering what they'd had Jay doing all this time to make him look like this. Jay had never looked tired, never slowed down until after the fight was done, then you wouldn't see very much of him except when he would sneak into the kitchen for meals whenever he felt like it. He would hide in his room and workshop for a few days and when he came back out, he'd be seemingly alright, barely even bothered by whatever they'd gone through. This was how all of them who preferred to be around each other was for a few days. It was so unusual for Jay.

He wondered what exactly their plan was and what they were doing. He couldn't ask (Roger was already supposed to know) because that would completely blow his cover. It's not like it took too long for that question to be answered. Jay stopped in front of the hospital room number 104 and knocked, "Ms. Boltar? Can we come in?"

"Yes." A voice answered from inside, and Cole nearly fell over from shock. He would know that voice anywhere. It was her, the one he'd come to find.

* * *

Keala took a deep breath, trying to calm down. It wasn't that big of a deal really, he probably just wanted to check on her. Commander Walker had been the one to rescue her anyways, and it was more than likely just him making sure she was ok. _Stop fooling yourself Keala, he's suspicious and wants to find out if you've been colluding with rebels. Which you have of course, but he cannot know that. I have to keep them safe._

"You can come in." She called to them, picking up a book she'd been reading from the side table and pushing away the tray of food she'd been brought earlier. Eww, hospital food. No one ate that unless they were desperate or stuck here. Just gross, so gross.

Commander Walker opened the door and walked in, leaving it partially open. Through the gap, she could see three other guards, one of whom looked a bit like Cole. Ah man, Cole. She'd had a crush on him since she had heard of them. They were about the same age (if her calculations were correct, as none of them had published their ages to the general public) and MAN was he hot. He wasn't like Kai, who was wayyy too cocky for her tastes, or Jay, who was just plain wacky (that hadn't seemed to change no matter where he was), he wasn't like Lloyd, who while he was just the sweetest, was just too immature sometimes, and Zane was just...Zane. There wasn't much more besides that. Cole was right in the middle of all those and she really liked him. He was mature, the oldest of the group, he knew what leadership was, he dealt with everyone's personalities, he'd known what it was like to lose things and then to be stuck somewhere he wasn't prepared for at first. Between that and other things, he was just her perfect guy. The very fact the HE had been the one to find her in that room had made her nearly speechless. She'd had to realllyyy focus to be able to talk around him.

_Ok Keala, time to prove how much they can trust you. Walker can't get anything out of you that you don't want him to get. You are strong, like the wind._ She smiled sweetly at him, closing the book with a thump, "Ah, Commander Walker, how good to see you again. I never got the chance to thank you for finding me there."

He smiled at her, "Oh please, call me Jay."

_Two can play at that game buddy boy, good luck getting me with that one._ Rule number one of getting information out of someone was set them at their ease. It almost always worked, but not with her. "Only if you'll call me Keala." She shot back at him with a smile, pleased to see that color drain just a bit out of his face. _Oh yeah, you're dealing with a professional. Don't try any of that with me. _She set the book down and inclined her head to him, "So, may I inquire as to why you are here? I'm sure there's more of a reason than a thank you."

"Yes, I had some questions about what happened yesterday. Do you think you could tell me?"

Keala pretended to consider this. In truth, she was trying to concoct a story that would stand up to investigation and still explain how she ended up in the alleyway without mentioning Cole or Kai at all. She'd never seen them.

"Well, I suppose so. Is there a reason?" She asked, trying to stall for time.

"We're trying to put together a narrative of what happened for further investigation. You'd be helping your emperor greatly."

_Riiight, well, let's hope that this will satiate you._ Rule number 2 was to give the person a reason to, like a bribe or some noble cause. In this instance, a chance to help her beloved emperor. "A chance to help my emperor! Well, how can I say no? It's pretty simple. I was visiting with a friend from the countryside. You can look her up, she does exist. Her name is Emma Natal. She'll testify for what I'm saying. We were talking about her business, she makes and sells these beautiful dolls and puppets, when the helicopter crashed into the building, only a little bit away from Emma's room. She immediately ran for the door, forgetting that I was there. The small explosion from when the helicopter hit the hotel had almost completely blown the wall out, knocking me against the opposite wall. Hence the concussion. It took a bit, but I managed to get up and leave the room, burning my hands on the doorknob." She held up her bandaged hands, actually injured from touching the wall one too many times as she was running and from actually trying to get the door open. It had actually been blocked from the outside, but they couldn't know that as the building was mostly gone now. "I got lost for a while after that. The smoke was making me dizzy and I couldn't breathe. Eventually, I managed to find a door out and collapsed in the alleyway where you found me. That's all to the story." She smiled internally. Most of that story was true, for instance, she had been visiting with a friend named Emma Natal, who did make really pretty dolls and puppets (she found them a bit creepy, but it's really a matter of taste). She had been knocked backward by the explosion from the helicopter and gotten a concussion and she had burnt her hands on the doorknob. She had left some things out though. With any luck, he wouldn't notice that.

Jay nodded, writing some things down, "Alright. And your friend's name is-"

"Emma Natal. Honestly, she won't mind telling you what happened from her point of view. I'll warn you though, she loves to talk. And talk. And talk some more. It can take hours to finish a conversation with her and she would do most of the talking. Anything else?"

"Yes. Where do you live, so we can contact you if we need you?"

_Or so you can arrest me if my story turns out to be a lie. _She gave him the address though, daring him to find inconsistencies in her story.

"Ok, and you said that you found a door that led to the alleyway right? Well, the plans of the building that were given to us stated that there wasn't a door where you said it was."

"Right, well, that door was added later. There wasn't originally supposed to be an alleyway there, but when they added that, they added a door." She shrugged nonchalantly, taking a sip of tea, "Don't ask me why they didn't add it to the plans. Lucky there was one there though huh? I don't think I would have gotten out if it hadn't been there."

"Mmm yes, very lucky."

He continued asking her questions, some of which seemed to have no purpose whatsoever to the point at hand. Still, she answered each one, not letting her guard down and answering his questions with questions of her own as much as possible.

Finally, he snapped his notebook closed and stood up. "Well, it's been a pleasure Keala. Thank you for answering all of these questions for me. We'll let you know if we need anything else."

"Of course Jay, It was my pleasure." She deliberated for a second then said as he was walking out, "By the way Jay, I hope you're proud of what you're doing, being a commander is a very high position."

He paused by the door, and she wasn't able to see the look of sadness cross his face. Then, he left the room and closed the door.

She went through their whole conversation in her head, trying to figure out if she'd let anything slip he could use to say she had seen the ninja. _Hmm, he might as well just flat out asked if I'd seen any of the rebels when I was in the building. That would have been interesting to answer._ Satisfied that he couldn't possibly have guessed that she had in fact been saved by Cole, she settled down with her book again, waiting for a nurse to come in and tell her that she was free to go. Someone knocked on her door.

"Come in." She answered, "Thank goodness, I was wondering if you-oh my gosh, Cole!"

There he was, standing at her door looking kind of uncomfortable. "Uh, hi. I remembered I'd never asked what your name was." He told her, cheeks turning a bit red.

She suppressed a smile, "Its Keala. Why are you here? Do you realize how dangerous it is for you to be even near the city right now?"

"Yeah, I do, but I had to find you and ask you a question."

Her heart rate quickened, much to her dismay. _Ugh, stop it Keala, he barely even knows you. Why would he want to talk about much with you about-that?_ "Oh yeah, of course. Go ahead."

"So, you probably know that my brother Kai was taken into custody yesterday."

"I did. I'm really sorry, Cole, I can't even imagine what that's like." She told him quietly.

"Thank you. Anyways, I have something I need your help with. I have a sorta plan to get him out of there, but there are only the three of us now. We can't infiltrate the palace without extreme risk of getting caught ourselves."

"Soooo, you're asking me to do...what?"

He turned to look at her, "Keala, we need your help and the help of your best fighters to infiltrate the palace and get Kai out of there before they damage him permanently or kill him. Can you help?"

She didn't respond for a minute. On one hand, they had sworn to do their best to aid the rebels no matter what they needed. But this was dangerous, really dangerous. In her head, blueprints of the palace they had collected showed her the way to the dungeons, where Kai would be being held in maximum security. It was nearly a mile underground, protected by metal walls that could snap shut and keep them trapped until reinforcements could arrive to take all of them into prison, never to see the sun again. With more of them, it would be dangerous at best, with only the three rebels, it would be suicidal. There was only one thing for her to say. "We'll help you, Cole, what do you need?"

* * *

He didn't stay much longer. The longer he stayed the more dangerous it became, so he just asked for a way to contact her with what they needed and their plan, as well as a way to set up a meeting that would not be discernible to other people. He carefully shut the door behind him and walked down the hall, stopping only long enough to ditch the uniform and then trying to make his way out.

He was almost to the elevator when a nurse spotted him, her mouth shaping into an o as she processed who it was. They stood there for a second, at a stalemate. He noticed her hand straying towards her walkie-talkie. _Please _he mouthed. Her hand paused, and then moved away from her walkie. Then she pointedly turned away, signaling that she had never seen him. Taking the hint, he ran off towards the elevator, punching the number one and waiting impatiently to get to the bottom. He practically ran through the lobby, barely stopping until he was halfway through the city, finally slowing to a walk, taking a deep breath and making sure his hood was secure. _Hang in there Kai, we're coming for you._

* * *

It was so dark. It was constantly dark now. The cell that he had been put in had almost no light coming through it. They must have been giving him something to stay asleep because he was almost never awake now, floating in an endless pool of dreams and nightmares. The times when he was awake, he felt like he was going mad. No one ever came into the cell, and the only time he knew that there were people there was when his food was delivered, 2 times a day. Beyond that, nothing, not even a hint that people were watching him, which he knew they were. Even the sound of his own voice was deafening whenever he found the need to talk. Not that being asleep was any better. When he was asleep, he would have dream after dream, some of them so realistic he felt like his sister was actually there, or he was once again playing video games with all his brothers and getting whooped by Zane. The other dreams weren't even dreams at all, nightmares, a reliving of each battle, of each nightmare he'd had even as a child, and they kept getting worse and worse. Too much more of this, and he'd go completely mad. How many times did he watch everyone he loved die? Or died himself? _Please hurry up you guys. I don't know how much longer I can hold on. But I will Nya, I will..._ Kai slowly drifted off into another dream, already beginning to slowly fade away...


	13. The rescue mission

**A/N: Well, well, well, helllloooo to everyone! Sorry this took so long, for some reason this was a harder chapter to write. Two rewrites and a lot of mental screaming later, here it is! I hope that everyone has been doing great and is ready for some things to happen in this chapter! Let me know what you think either in the reviews or by PMing me. Anyways, thanks for reading!**

**Northern Goshawk: Heh yeah sorry about that. I put that as well as the last flashbacks into the Green Legacy Extras book I published a bit ago. And yeaahhh, Lloyd was clueless then. It's too bad though, I relentlessly ship lloyrumi and that will never change. We'll have to see about that Kailor thing though heh.**

**OnlyLonelyStars: Wow! Thank you so much for all the reviews! Let's just say that Lloyd has absolutely NO CLUE that Harumi is alive. That will be explained later. Nya was being lazy, give the girl a break ;). You are completely right about Jay, he's exactly the same, cept he isn't. I agree about Skylor though, she is an amazing character. Under different circumstances she'd be pretty great in here too, but, the story must continue haha.**

* * *

The next week and a half flew by quickly. The plans were going along smoothly and Lloyd had met with Keala twice now to talk about what the plan was. Sitting in the cave one day with Cole and Nya, Lloyd turned to Cole, "She's rather pretty." He stated matter-of-factly.

Cole rolled his eyes, staring up at the ceiling, "Yeah, you think? Thanks for pointing that out Greenie, I had absolutely NO idea."

Nya snickered, "Way to point it out Lloyd, Cole is blind, he didn't see that from the first time he met her."

Lloyd sighed, "Just pointing it out. Soooo Cole, do you like her?"

"By like her, do you mean like her like her or just like her?" Cole asked.

"That made no sense at all."

He sighed, glaring at Lloyd, "Yes, I agree she's pretty. Do I like her? I don't know! Not to mention, we are in the middle of planning a very risky breakout plan. Not quite the right time to have a girlfriend. By the way, Nya, were you able to talk to your contact to get us inside?"

Nya nodded, "Yeah, he said he'll do it. We just need to be extremely careful, we may still need him." She had reluctantly contacted Jay and asked him if he could help him get inside. He'd agreed, then asked her for forgiveness for taking in Kai. She'd forgiven him, and they were all good now, but she didn't want him to get in trouble if she could help it.

"Great! Well, I suppose we just need to let Keala and her team know that we're ready and to ask their status." He looked the both of them in the eyes, "I just wanted to let you guys know how much you both mean to me. After all this, you still haven't given up on me, even at the risk of your own lives. Thank you, both of you."

Nya draped an arm around his shoulder, "Well, you are my little brother after all, and I would protect you with my life if I had to. You are the sweetest and I wouldn't trade these last few years for the whole world."

"Ditto," Cole added.

"Thank you, guys. Now, get some sleep. I'll send a message to Keala and ask if we are on track for tomorrow. I'll let you know."

Nya smiled, kissing Lloyd on the cheek, "Don't stay up too long. If we are doing this tomorrow then we need you fully rested." She paused, "Kai needs you fully rested..."

"This is going to work Nya. We will rescue him." Cole reassured her, completely confident in their abilities.

"Yeah, I know we will. But it took so much time to get this ready. What if something goes wrong? What if I've lost him forever?"

"Nya, look at me," Cole turned her to look at him, "We've got this. He's fine, you'll see. If he wasn't fine, then Garmadon would be rubbing it in our faces right now. He's still alive, we just need to go in there and get him. If it doesn't work this time, we'll just recoup and try again. We will get him out."

"There won't be a next time if we don't get him out this time." She told him.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked; worry starting to cross his face.

"My contact told me that they've come up with a plan to banish us. He's not sure where it leads to, but it's dangerous. If we don't get him out or if we get captured, we're all going to get banished somewhere and we won't be able to make it out. We will die if this doesn't work."

Everyone was silent for a minute, processing this new information.

"Well then, we'd better not fail," Lloyd replied grimly, "Now you two should go and get some sleep, we need to be well-rested. I'll turn in in a little bit."

Everyone said goodnight and retreated to the back of the cave to get some sleep but Lloyd stayed up for a little while longer to send a message to Keala and her team. He got an answer back within half an hour. Just two words. _We're on_. He stared at the message, both dreading and excited for what the next day would bring. _Well, by this time tomorrow, we'll have either succeeded or failed. There's something strangely comforting about that. _He went to the back of the cave and lay down, drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

The next day found the three of them waiting outside the wall surrounding the palace, hidden and waiting for Jay. When Nya had contacted him, he'd said he could get them in sometime around 11. So there they were, nervously waiting for him to get there.

"Are you sure he's trustworthy?" Cole whispered to Nya, who was watching for him.

"Positive. He swore he would, and he's never broken a promise before. Trust me, he'll be here." She reassured him, trying not to sound worried herself. He HAD promised, but because of the nature of his job, he may not be able to get to them for hours. _C'mon Jay, prove that we can trust you. Let us in._

The sound of people behind them made them whip around sharply.

"It's just us," Keala whispered, appearing into view with 4 other guys, all volunteers, who looked very happy to be there helping them, "Has he shown yet?"

"Oh, thank goodness it's just you. We were a bit worried at first." Lloyd told her, nodding to the men she'd brought with her.

"No, he hasn't. It's almost 11 though, so he should be here within the next 5 minutes." _I hope._

"He'll be here Nya. We just have to wait." Lloyd tapped his fingers against each other, trying not to worry too much. Who was this contact and why was she not willing to tell them who it was? It was a bit worrisome. He had to trust her though, so he waited.

The creaking of the gate they were waiting to open made them all perk up, but Nya put a finger to her lips and crept around their hiding spot.

She was glad to see Jay standing there, "Thank goodness, I was starting to get a little worried."

He grinned, "You're cute Nya. But you guys have to hurry, this area won't be empty for long, they're expecting a shipment of food to this entrance within 10 minutes. Is everyone there?"

"Yeah. I assume that you'll be deployed once the alarm is sounded?"

He took her hands, rubbing a finger over her knuckles, "Yes, I will be. But I won't attack you guys. Don't let Lloyd attack me before I'm able to explain myself."

"Alright. Thank you for this Jay. I can't stand to leave him in there any longer then I need to."

"Just...be careful with Kai. He hasn't seen another human being in two weeks. He may be a bit...disoriented and unsure if you're real or not."

Nya glanced at him, concerned, "What have they been doing to him?"

"I'll explain later, for now, get everyone in here. I don't want to get attacked or get you into trouble, so I'll leave you to keep this gate open." He kissed her softly, "See you in a few."

Her breath caught and she stood there for a second, trying to regain her balance. Dang it, he was so good at completely throwing her emotions everywhere. She had to focus. "C'mon guys, we have to get in here fast. They're expecting a shipment in a little bit and we don't want to be here when it arrives."

Lloyd went through first, "Where is he? I heard someone, but not enough to place the voice."

"Yeah, it did sound sorta familiar though," Cole agreed, standing aside to let Keala through and setting off down the path, "C'mon, the door we want is here."

Keala went ahead, having studied the schematics of the palace in and out (no one was quite sure how she got her hands on them, but you didn't argue with her or you were liable to get in trouble), "This tunnel is rarely traveled, but we will need to be very careful. I know where the door we need to take is, but stay quiet and stay alert." She checked her sword, dropping down into the tunnel, not bothering with the ladder.

Lloyd followed close behind and once they were all down there, Keala began walking at a fast pace, forcing them all to keep up. Cole jogged to keep pace with her, wanting to chat, "So, how're you doing?" He asked, ducking underneath a pipe.

"Not bad actually. I enjoyed all of the planning and now the execution of our plan, it's very exciting."

"Hm, yeah, I suppose it is."

"Why so glum? I would think you'd be getting an adrenaline dump from this," She chuckled, "I know I am."

Cole pursed his lips, "Well, this doesn't make my adrenaline pump anymore. It used to be the anticipation that was the worst part of it and once I got into the fight I was fine, but now it's the fight that makes my adrenaline get going and not the anticipation. I've been at it long enough that I've gotten used to it."

She was quiet, "That's a bit sad when you think about it. After whatever amount of years you've gotten so used to fighting that thinking about what you're about to do doesn't make you nervous. Did you ever think about retiring?"

"Not really. We all went through those moments when we just didn't want to do it anymore, but in the end, we all decided that Ninjago needed us and that we all need each other to stay sane and not completely crazy. What ended up deciding it for me was that I don't have much else to do anymore and all of those guys are my family, no matter how messed up they are."

"This way!" She called back to the others, and then said to Cole, "I suppose I never thought about how hard your job is. It seems glamorous on the outside, but it isn't. I hope you know how grateful everyone is to all of you, you've saved Ninjago thousands of times, and all without pay or any compensation."

He smiled at her, "It's our pleasure."

She blushed and stopped at a fork in the road, "Alright everyone, we only have a little while more to go before we reach our exit point. Once we get up there it'll be very dangerous, as all guards have a panic button on their tech kits on their belts. Once that panic alarm goes out, the security systems will turn on and we'll have guards converging on us from every corner. The goal is to get as close to the dungeons as possible without setting off any alarms. Being quiet is the key. Is everyone ready?" She waited for everyone to respond, "Let's go."

As Lloyd passed Cole, he leaned over to him and whispered, "She's very good at that." He paused for a second, mischief in his eyes, "And pretty too."

Cole smacked him on the arm, rolling his eyes, "Get going, kid."

Keala led the way, chatting with Nya and chuckling softly, occasionally casting glances back towards Lloyd and Cole.

"I'm just making an honest observation," Lloyd protested, ignoring Cole's lack of wanting to talk about the subject, "She is very good at leading and she's not bad to look at either! Is that so bad to say?"

"Don't talk to me Lloyd, especially on THAT subject. Anything else, sure, no problem, but not the subject of a girl. Yeah no."

Lloyd shrugged, not quite giving up, but not wanting to get himself into trouble either, "Mkay, whatever you say."

Cole shook his head at Lloyd, _glad to see that he hasn't lost his sense of humor and teasing. That's a good sign, even if it is directed towards me..._

Keala stopped at a ladder below a door that presumably led to the dungeons, "Alright, you four up first, then Lloyd, Nya, Cole, and then me. Remember to stay quiet and don't let the guards press their panic buttons."

When Lloyd got up to the top, his first impression was it was extremely depressing. The few times he'd been in the palace, he'd stayed at the upper levels, which were always bright and well lit. This was all dark and lit with small lanterns at certain intervals. _All in all, I kinda hate this place._

Once everyone was up top, Keala peeked around a corner and gestured for them to follow her. No one talked, not wanting to alert anyone to their presence. Just when it was starting to seem safe, Keala called a quick halt from the front, presumably having spotted guards around the corner. She pointed at Nya and gestured for her to come with.

30 seconds later, they got the all-clear and descended into the deeper parts of the dungeons. This was when it got tricky. They had figured out that the changing of the guard happened around 11:15, and they were getting close to that time now. The only problem was, they had no idea of the routes that the guards took on their way out. Because of this, they encountered 4 different groups of two or three prison guards on their way to their break.

Just when they thought that they were in the clear, a blaring alarm sounded overhead.

"Oh FSM," Keala cursed, "C'mon guys we have to speed it up. Shouldn't be too much lower, but if we don't want to get trapped here then we'd better pick up the pace."

The alarm seemed to get louder and louder as they got deeper and deeper. The sound of rushing feet in the stairs above them spurred them on, ignoring how steep the stairs were.

"This way," Keala panted, barely stopping to even catch her breath.

They passed a few guards, who jumped up and yelled at them to halt. Lloyd summoned up a ball of energy into his hand and threw it behind him. It exploded, sending the guards flying backward. He slowed down for one instant, the use of his elemental power making him more tired than he had been before, then sped up, running alongside Nya, who touched a panel as they passed, shorting out the doors and making them slam behind them, earning them a few minutes.

Then, Keala stopped, panting with her hands on her knees. She pointed down the corridor, managing to say, "That's his cell down there. There should only be a few guards guarding it. If my sources are correct, he's been sedated for the whole time, making it unnecessary to put too many guards there."

Lloyd pulled out his sword, gripping it, "Nya, Cole, let's go save Kai."

Nya got her trident out from behind her back and extended it to full length.

Lloyd led the way, sneaking around the corner, feeling the familiar sense of people behind him, people he trusted with his life.

They were halfway there when they got noticed by the guards guarding the door to his cell. As Keala had predicted, only 4 guards were guarding the door, having not moved when the alarm went off. "Over there!" shouted one of them, pointing at Nya. They all rushed to them, trying to corner them and either shoot them or get them to surrender.

Cole ducked under a blast and jumped for the guy who'd shot it, landing a punch that knocked him to the floor. "And stay down," He ordered him, stepping over him and running to Lloyd's aid, who was being attacked by two men at the same time. He kicked one of them and blocked a shot from another, shielding Lloyd.

"Phew, thanks for that," Lloyd panted, brushing his hair out of his eyes, "Two against one in such a small area is not good."

"No problem, just watch your back." Cole grunted, tripping the last guy and knocking him out cold.

Nya finished off the guard she'd been fighting, knocking him out, "And that's for my brother you dweebs!" She glanced up to see Lloyd and Cole looking at her strangely. "What? It's not like he could hear me." She strode over to the panel, examining it, "This shouldn't be too hard, it's handprint activated. Find the lead guy and we can use his hand to open the door."

Cole picked up the guy with more decorative clothing and put his hand up to the scanner. It beeped, turning green. The sound of the door locks releasing made them all jump, and Nya pulled on the door, opening it all the way.

Kai was slumped in the corner, asleep. But it didn't look normal. Whereas only two weeks ago he'd been strong and, well, awake, he was now gaunt and looked sick. Very sick.

Nya rushed over to him, "Kai, Kai. Kai wake up. We're here to get you out."

He stirred, opening his eyes just a fraction, "Nya? Is that you? Are you real?"

Nya nodded, tears in her eyes, "I'm real, I promise Kai. But we need to leave right now before they hone in on our position."

"Is Lloyd and Cole here too?" He asked, his voice hoarse.

Lloyd glanced up from where he was helping Cole take off the shackles from Kai's wrist, "Yeah, we're both here buddy, and we're gonna get you out."

Cole hissed, "Ugh, its Vengestone." He rubbed his hands, "And it feels like it's burning me for some reason."

Lloyd ignored the pain in his hands and used a bit of energy on the lock, trying to get it to open, "If it's burning our hands, I'd hate to see what it's done to his wrists. Can you help, Nya?"

She scooted over, analyzing the lock, "It's unlocked with a code and a key. The commander has the key probably, but none of us know the code and I doubt they would tell us." She suddenly straightened, having heard something, "FSM, I have an idea. Keep working on that lock, I'll be right back."

Kai didn't say anything, just closing his eyes again, barely even breathing. Lloyd and Cole exchanged worried looks, still trying to get the lock off.

Nya bolted down the hall, heart pounding in her chest. What she was about to do was extremely risky, and could get her killed. She'd heard the sound of footsteps and had rightly assumed that that was Jay's battalion. He would know the code and probably had a key too. The only problem was, was he willing to choose her over his job and any chance he might have at a pardon? She took off her trident, knowing running up to him with her trident in her hands was just a terrible idea. Laying it down in a nook, she bit her lip and ran again, right towards the sound of the people marching and yelling to get moving. _Please be Jay's battalion, please be Jay's battalion. _She skidded to a halt around a corner, almost running into a soldier. She put her hands up, showing that she had no weapon. Searching the crowd quickly, she spotted him, standing there with a look of shock on his face. By now he probably expected them to be gone and having her show up there had just made him go speechless. Not for long though.

"Surround her!" He barked, pulling out his nunchucks.

Nya kept her eyes on him, ignoring the people all around her, "Hey Jay, nice suit." She told him, cocking an eyebrow.

He swallowed, keeping his eyes on her face too, "Why are you here Nya? This was a suicide mission, you had to know we were gonna catch you."

Translation, what in the FSM are you doing here? You were supposed to be long gone by the time we got there and you just ran right into us. Nya shrugged, not breaking eye contact, "Figured it's now or never. I couldn't help it."

He took a deep breath, relaxing just a hair. If she hadn't known him for a long time, she wouldn't have even noticed it, "Now or never huh?" He hesitated and she could see the wheels turning. He knew that she needed his help, but to say yes would mean he would get stripped of whatever honors and his pardon and would get hunted again. He nodded, "I get that." He looked at someone behind her, "Put handcuffs on her."

As the guy got close, she dropped her hands and flipped him over, landing him squarely on the floor. Jay reached out and electrocuted the two people closest to him, dropping them like stones.

It only took one second for everyone to realize what just happened, and in that time, Nya and Jay together had managed to take out half of the force. Working together, they were practically unstoppable. Nya summoned water from the walls and spread it all on the floor, Jay, bouncing off of this, bent down and touched the water with his fingertips, electrocuting everyone else still standing.

Nya walked over to him, drying up the water as she walked, "You chose me over safety?" She asked, having not expected him to do it.

He took her hand and kissed it gently, "I will always choose you. You are my yang and I've never stopped loving you. We've had some stupid fights, but I don't intend on leaving you. I was being stubborn and stupid that night we broke up, and I have regretted it ever since, even after we got back together. I swear I will protect you with my life."

Nya grabbed his hand, "I love you too, Jay. But we need to get going. Do you have a key and the password for Kai's handcuffs?" They began running in the direction Nya had come from.

Jay nodded, "Yeah, I've got them. Is that why you haven't left yet?"

"Yeah. Strange question, but have you guys been developing new strains of Vengestone? It burns our hands when we touch it."

Jay winced, rounding a corner, "Ehhh, yeah, among other things. Trust me; it's been specifically designed to burn only elemental masters. The only way we can touch it is with a special pair of gloves and the only place it won't burn is the panel with the code on it." He shivered, "I know because I was one of the ones who had to test it."

"What will it do to his wrists?"

"He'll probably have scars on his wrists for the rest of his life. You touch that for too long and your hands will sting for hours. Weeks though? He's probably scarred for life, those things are brutal."

Nya was quiet. Then she nodded, "He'll be happy to be alive I think." She held up a hand, "Ok, here's the thing. Lloyd and Cole still don't know what I'm doing. I said I was bringing help, but they don't know that it'll be you. It may be best for me to go in there and explain first."

He grimaced, "I appreciate that, but we need to get out sooner rather than later." He grabbed his watch and shorted it out, crushing it and throwing the pieces away. "It had a tracker on it." He explained, "Worst case scenario, I get attacked by them and have to explain myself. But the sooner we leave the better."

Nya exhaled, nodding, "Alright. Come on. Let's just hope they don't freak out." She led the way, ducking through the opening to find Lloyd and Cole still trying to get the shackles off.

"Oh, thank goodness you're back Nya. Were you able to find help?" Lloyd asked, sitting back and shaking out his hands, which even in the dim light of the cell were bright red.

"Ok, here's the thing, he is willing to help and I need you to trust me on this."

Cole frowned, "Who did you bring?" He inquired in confusion.

Jay walked in the door, trying to hide how nervous he was. His fingers tapped against each other as he glanced at Lloyd and Cole, both trying to process the sight of him standing there, neither attacking or running away.

"Hey guys," He said, trying to gauge their reactions.

Cole jumped up, fury in his eyes. He grabbed Jay and slammed him against the wall, "Why are you here?" He asked through clenched teeth.

Only Jay could see the hurt and pain in his eyes. He shook his head, "Can we talk about this later please Cole? I know you're mad at me and for good reason too, but we have to get going. I'm the only one who can release Kai from those handcuffs. Just, get upset and vent at me later?"

Cole hesitated, backing away and releasing Jay. Lloyd didn't move except out of his way, staring at him in surprise.

Jay's fingers flew across the control panel, muttering the code under his breath. The panel turned green and a keyhole opened up in the side. Fumbling with the ring on his belt for a minute, Jay found the key he was looking for and inserted it in, turning it. The handcuffs fell off and Kai slumped to the floor, no longer being held up by them. He blinked, shaking his head, his eyes unfocused, "Jay?" He breathed.

"Yeah, I decided to join the right side. Now rest up and don't struggle, we're gonna get you out of here."

He helped Cole and Lloyd pick Kai up, moving around and keeping the cell door open for them.

"We got him," Cole informed Keala as they rounded the corner.

She jumped, her sword practically jumping out of the sheath and pointing at Jay's throat. He froze, barely even breathing.

"What is he doing here? He's the enemy," She hissed, not taking her eyes off of him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa-" Lloyd moved the sword away from Jay with his hand,"-he's with us. Jay unlocked the cuffs for us. We may still need him."

She paused, considering, before resheathing her sword, "If you say so. Now let's get moving, we don't have much time."

Jay raised his hand, "I know a fast way out. It's a bit more dangerous, but we'll be having company in a little while. It should only take a few minutes."

Lloyd glanced at Keala, who shrugged. "The faster we get out of here the better Jay."

Jay nodded and started running in the same direction they had come from; glancing back to be sure they followed him.

"Are you sure you trust him?" Cole whispered to Nya.

Nya nodded, eyes on her brother, "Yeah, I trust him with my life. He was the contact and we've been seeing each other for a while now."

Cole looked at her in surprise, "Is that why you didn't want to tell us? Because you knew we'd see him as the enemy?"

"Partly. It's also because I didn't want to share it and risk it getting out. You never know with these things."

"I get that. It was probably a good move on your part anyways." Cole shifted Kai to the other shoulder.

"What's going on?" Kai asked blearily, opening his eyes.

"Kai! Thank goodness you're awake, can you walk?" Nya asked, slowing down just slightly.

He didn't respond, merely grimaced slightly. Ahead of them, Jay stopped, peeking around a corner. He held up a fist, signaling a halt. Glancing back, he saw that Kai was awake if only a little bit. "Oh good, you guys came at the right time."

"What do you mean?" Lloyd panted, hands on his knees as he tried to regain his breath.

Jay gestured to Kai, who was starting to move a bit groggily, "Just before they gave him more of the drugs to keep him under. If you had come 15 minutes later, he wouldn't be awake right now, he'd barely even look alive."

Cole put Kai down, leaning him against the wall, "Will he be able to walk?"

"Maybe, it really depends on how much of a dosage they gave him last time."

Kai groaned, "Is this real? Or another dream?"

They exchanged confused glances. Nya knelt beside him, "It's real. We're getting you out of here."

"That's what they always said in my dreams too," He told them, trying to get up, "Though, this is different than the other ones. That annoying alarm for instance. That's new."

Nya groaned, "Look, this is real, Kai Smith, and I'll prove it to you." She smacked him on the face, hard. "Convinced now?" She asked him in exasperation.

He blinked, raising an eyebrow, "Mostly yeah." He rubbed his head, "How long has it been? What did they do to me?"

Lloyd grabbed his arm, helping him stand up, "Later Kai. For now, though, we have to get out of here before we get surrounded by palace guards. Can you walk?"

"I think so. Was I imagining that Jay was here?" Kai glanced around, his eyes widening when he spotted Jay waiting impatiently for them, "I see. Not a dream then." He acknowledged slowly. "What's the plan here?"

"It's simple, we take a shortcut through the underground training facility and leave through a back door used to get the emperor out in case of an emergency. We'll have to be careful though. Since it's a training facility, all of the-uh-secret projects are down there. They won't hesitate to kill you either."

Everyone stared at him. Lloyd swallowed, "Is there something we need to know about? Because it'd be much better to tell us now then regret it later."

"It's too complicated and we have to keep moving. Trust me on this though, you do not want to get seen."

Everyone followed after him, breaking into a run. Jay led the way down a flight of stairs, muttering a code when they got to the bottom.

Kai coughed, leaning on Nya, "Does he have any idea what he's doing?" He asked.

She chuckled, "I certainly hope so. Glad you're getting your sense of humor back though, you had me worried there."

He grinned at her tiredly, "You know me, sis, I love surprising people. Let's make a deal, you don't die on me and I won't die on you."

She rolled her eyes, laughing, "Deal. Let's just hope we can get out of here."

"I found it!" Jay yelled, pulling open a hidden door. They went through, falling silent when they crossed the threshold.

"This is cheery," Kai commented, breaking the silence.

"Cheery and potentially very dangerous," Keala added nervously, "Are we sure about this, Lloyd?"

Lloyd looked at Jay, who didn't even blink. Lloyd sighed heavily, "I trust Jay. But honestly, if this is a trap..."

"It's not a trap, I swear. This is the easiest way out without attracting any attention as long as we're careful and quiet. I'll stay in front so that if anyone gets spotted, it'll be me. Just don't talk and we should be ok." Not waiting for an answer, he set off down the dark hallway. He put a finger to his lips, darting across a gap and gesturing for them to follow his lead.

"This place is...nice," Cole muttered softly, glancing around at the dark stone walls and flickering torches.

"Shhh," Jay hissed from ahead, coming to a stop and plastering himself to the wall. Everyone behind him quickly followed suit. He turned to them, "Up ahead is the main training room. If we're careful, we should be able to move past the door without anyone seeing us. Remember to stay quiet, talking to you Cole, and be careful."

Lloyd took a deep breath, watching Jay move stealthily forward and past a large door that presumably led to the main training room. Two of the extra men Keala had brought followed after him, barely even glancing through the window to see what was going on in there. When it was his turn, he darted about halfway across before his curiosity got the better of him and he glanced through the window into the large room. What he saw rooted him to the ground in shock.

Inside of the training arena, a kid who couldn't be older than 15 rolled, shooting a blast of wind at his opponent, knocking the kid clean off of his feet and into the opposite wall. On the other side of the room, twin girls dressed almost identically attacked simultaneously, freezing their opponent in time before kicking them into a punching bag.

_How-what? That can't be possible. Those elements have been lost, there's no way to bring them back. How can those kids use wind and time? What does Garmadon have that we don't know about and what does that mean for the resistance?_

**Sorry about how long this chapter is. It's always hard to find an endpoint and as it is I had to split it into half. Hope you enjoyed it!**


	14. The Resistance never quits!

**Well, it took long enough, but I have finally updated GL! I know what you all are thinking. "Unicorn, you have so many WIPs, how come you're updating this one now?" Well, it's simple. I had time, and it's been awhile. Anyways, here it is! Sorry it took so long, and enjoy!**

* * *

Lloyd stood frozen and his breath caught in his throat. "_How? That shouldn't be possible. Those elements went extinct when their masters died. Unless-no, that's impossible."_

"Lloyd!" Hissed Jay to the left of him. "We have to move."

Cole came behind him, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of view of the window. "Sparky, who are those kids in there and _why in the FSM are they using elemental powers that we thought were extinct?_"

Jay shifted uncomfortably. "Uhhh will "it's complicated" work for now?"

"Nope."

"Look, I get that this is really bad about these elementals, but we have got to get out of here _now._ If we get caught here it'll be much worse. Trust me and I swear, I'll get you out of here and answer all your questions. But only when we're relatively safe. Got that?"

Kai coughed, leaning heavily on Nya. "Can we get out of here? I'm sick of this place."

"Yeah let's-let's get out of here." Lloyd shook his head, trying to focus. "But you're going to have a lot of explaining to do, Jay."

He nodded gravely. "I understand. Now follow me, we're almost there."

"So close, and yet so far. I should have known that you'd try to do this, Jay." A familiar voice laughed behind them.

Skylor took out her sword, swinging it between her fingers. "I mean, your loyalty has always been divided, but it was only a matter of time before you snapped."

Jay took out his nunchucks. "I spent too much time trying to decide which side I was on. I've made my decision, and it isn't on the side of the emperor."

"You're a fool, especially considering the position you're in right now." Behind them, the door of the training room opened with a hiss. "I don't believe you've met the newest elemental masters. Meet Megan and Miranda, the masters of time." The twins grinned identically. Megan had snow-white hair, marking her as the master of the past, while Miranda seemed alert and a bit bouncy, which made her the master of the future.

"Adrian, the master of wind."He smiled, inclining his head slightly in greeting. "And Narena, master of the mind and daughter of Neuro. The others aren't quite ready for combat yet, but you'll get to meet them soon enough."

"If you honestly think we're just going to give up because you have a few extra elementals, you're lying to yourself." Lloyd challenged, pointing his sword at her. "He got what we came for, and now we're leaving."

"I think not. You've been allowed to run wild for far too long. You're outnumbered already, and once Zane gets here with his troops you'll have no choice but to surrender or die."

"Sky! You don't really want to do this, do you?" Kai asked, gripping a knife Nya had given him. He looked horrible, face pale as a sheet and hand trembling. He was up though, and that was a definite improvement.

"On the contrary, this is exactly what I want. This war has been going on long enough and it's about time it ended. Take them alive." She ordered her soldiers, turning to face and engage Lloyd.

The battle was short and far too easy for the emperor's men to win. The rebels were majorly outnumbered and once Zane's battalion joined, they didn't stand a chance.

Skylor laughed a bit. "Honestly, I'm disappointed. One would have thought you'd have put up more of a fight. Suppose not. It's very disappointing."

Lloyd struggled fiercely as Skylor clipped Vengestone handcuffs on him, but he was pinned. Her grip on his arm was too tight and starting to get painful.

"Come on you guys, we're family. How could you do this?" Nya pleaded, trying to wrestle out of Zane's grasp.

He just held on tighter. "Perhaps we were before, but not anymore. You chose the wrong battle."

"All of you are going somewhere where you won't cause any more trouble, and you deserve it."

Jay's eyes got wide with panic. "You're kidding. It's experimental, it hasn't been cleared yet!"

"Uhh, what is this 'it'?" Cole asked worriedly.

"It's-"

Skylor slapped him, cutting him off. "Let's let them figure it out for themselves, capiche? Take them to the emperor. And you four, very well done. I'll be sure to drop a good word for you with Commander Entli."

"Jay, what is this thing she's talking about?" Cole asked him, trying to keep up.

"You'll find out." He winced, blinking rapidly. "We don't have far to travel. the room is down this hallway."

"Are you okay, Kai?" Nya asked worriedly.

Kai nodded, looking definitely _not _okay. "I will be... I'm more worried about what Sky was talking about."

"You really don't look fine, you look horrible."

"It's my hair, isn't it? Well, I haven't been able to style it for-" He paused. "FSM, I don't even know how long. How long was I in there?"

"A week and a half. I'm sorry it took so long for us to come..."

Kai shook his head. "Honestly sis, I had no way of telling time. I don't even remember much of... what happened before I got captured." He looked around, getting a look of panic in his eyes. "This-this has happened before. I've seen it. Everyone's going to die, and it will be horrible. Oh FSM..."

Nya touched his hand, wishing she could hug him, but not able to because of the cuffs on her wrists. "We'll be fine. This will be just like every other time. Something big will happen and we'll make it out without dying or getting hurt."

"I don't know, Nya..."

She squeezed his hand. "Well, I do. I'm sure Lloyd has some sort of plan."

* * *

_"I have no plan. What are we going to do? We're all in Vengestone handcuffs, so that takes elemental powers out of the question. Kai isn't doing so good and looks like he's about to have a mental breakdown, Nya is trying to keep him grounded and not freak out herself, and Jay and Cole look like they're trying to figure out a way to get out of this too... Think Lloyd, think! There's gotta be some way out of this horrible situation."_

Skylor tapped a passcode into a panel, opening the door and gesturing them inside.

Behind the door was a gigantic portal made of some kind of odd stone. It wasn't on currently, but there were technicians scurrying around, getting ready to turn it on.

Skylor bowed. "My lord. The rebels."

Emperor Garmadon smiled darkly. "Well done Skylor. After so much failure you finally completed your mission. Both you and Zane will be greatly rewarded for this." He approached Jay. "I am, however, extremely disappointed in you, Jay. After all the chances I gave you, you still disobeyed. As you well know, disobedience must be punished." His hand lit up with dark energy and he touched Jay's arm, only for a few seconds.

Jay screamed, almost immediately dropping to the ground. He groaned, struggling to get up and not being able to.

"Jay!" Nya cried, dropping to her knees beside him and touching him gently.

Garmadon shrugged infinitesimally and then moved to stand in front of Lloyd. "And now, Lloyd."

Lloyd stood straight, refusing to be intimidated by him. "Father."

"This was a foolish idea. You must have known you were going to get caught."

"Maybe I didn't. Would that change anything?"

"Not a bit. You and your band of rebels have been a thorn in my side for far too long. I have come up a permanent solution to my problem. I guess you could say that your mistake is that you care too much."

"Oh, so you want me to be like you?" Lloyd retorted, balling his hands into fists behind his back. "You want me to be uncaring and unfeeling? Killing people simply because they won't bow to your twisted ideals? Yeah, you're just the person I want to be like."

"Lloyd..." Cole warned.

"NO! If I'm about to die anyway, there's nothing I have to lose." He took a step forward, his green eyes pulsing with energy. "You're a coward and a tyrant bent on ruling Ninjago with an iron fist. You see the suffering that happens because of you and you purposefully ignore it. Those who dare to stand up to you get tortured and killed for their bravery. I wouldn't have felt the need to run away if you had been a suitable ruler from the start." He walked right up to Garmadon, practically nose to nose. His whole body seemed alight with energy, even the Vengestone was supposed to block it. "You are a fake."

Garmadon took a step back, shocked by his son's boldness. "That was a dumb move, son."

"You're not my father. My father hated violence and he did all he could to protect me. He wouldn't have made a plan to "get rid of me permanently" and he wouldn't have taken the throne for his own purposes. That throne you sit on was Harumi's!" He glared at him, feeling his rage start to return in full force. "She's dead because of you. My fiancee, my other half is DEAD! Because of you! I'm not your son and you certainly aren't my father."

Garmadon's eyes hardened. "If that's really how you want to play it, then fine." He moved away, addressing the technicians and guards. "Turn it on and throw them in."

"But, sir! It's still experimental! They may not survive the trip!" One of the technicians protested.

"Not my problem. I want him out of my sight." He strode out of the portal room, reappearing seconds later in the control room.

Lloyd turned around, feeling the adrenaline fade away as quickly as it had come. "I-I'm so sorry, all of you. This is my fault."

Keala shook her head quickly. "Oh no, it wasn't. We did what we came here to do anyway, we got Kai out of here."

"I agree with-uh-her." Jay coughed, getting to his feet with Nya's help. "It can't have been your fault, you did your best."

"We did what we said we were gonna do, and at least this way we'll all be together," Nya added, putting an arm around Jay.

Lloyd sighed, straightening. "The Resistance never quits."

They all echoed that, trying to sound optimistic. The Resistance never quits.

"Alright! Cut the chatter." Skylor pointed her sword at Lloyd, gesturing for him to walk up the platform. "I'm ready to get this over and done with."

"I'm sure you are," Kai muttered, earning a sharp glare from Skylor.

Mounting the platform, Lloyd felt a familiar pulsing sensation. His elemental power? But how? The Vengestone was supposed to block it... _"Oh well, not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth."_ He glanced back at his family and nodded once. _"You all ready?"_ At their nods back, he summoned his power to his palm. "NOW!" He yelled, manipulating it to explode his shackles off of his wrists. It took more elemental energy than normal, but at least it worked.

He shot Skylor and the closest guards with energy blasts and ran to Jay, grabbing the handcuff key out of his pocket. "Unlock everyone else." He ordered, whirling around to defend him while he did so.

"Well, that worked!" Keala commented cheerfully, rubbing her wrists when her hands were free.

"Yeah let's hope so." Cole kicked a guard backward into the wall, jumping off the platform.

Skylor tackled Lloyd, trying to push him closer to the portal. "There is no way I am letting you get away again!"

He rolled, slamming her into the metal railing. "Well, there is no way I'm going through that portal, so one of us will have to _deal_!" At that last word, he kicked backward, successfully getting her off of him.

For one second, she looked like she was just going to up and jump him again. At least, until her foot caught on something. She tripped, trying to catch herself on something, anything. But it was no use, she fell into the portal with a scream.

"SKYLOR!" Kai yelled, starting to make a break for the portal.

Nya grabbed his wrist, ignoring his hiss of pain. "No, Kai. Please don't. I need you."

He locked eyes with her. "Nya, remember when we made a promise to defend and protect all who need it? Well, Skylor needs it. She'll die there by herself, I'm sure of it."

Nya bit her lip, tearing up against her will. "You're my brother, I can't lose you."

Kai hugged his sister tightly. "Keep them safe, Nya. I'll be back soon, I promise."

She nodded, burying her head in his shoulder. "I love you, Kai."

"I love you too, Nya. Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone."

"You know me, no guarantees."

He kissed her on the forehead, squeezing her hand. "Do your best." With one more look, he put on a brave face to hide how scared he was and walked up the platform. Kai took a deep breath, gripping a knife in his hand. With one final look back, he jumped through the portal, disappearing.

_"You have fifteen seconds to be sad, Nya, but only that amount. He'll make it out, he always does." _Fifteen seconds came and went, and she launched into action. "Come on guys, we have to get out of here!"

"Did Kai just go through the portal?" Cole asked, understandably alarmed.

"Yes, I'll explain after. For now, move!"

"You heard her!" Lloyd yelled, ushering everyone out the door and into the hallway. "Jay! We need the fastest way out of here!"

"Uhh, this way!" He turned on his heel, bolting down the hallway and up a flight of stairs.

"Who-knew-there was-so many-stairs here." Keala panted, trying to keep pace with the ninja.

Cole went down, holding out his hand to her. "Come on, we have to get out of here."

She took it with a smile. "I'm down for that."

Jay laughed, turning it into a cough. "Ahem, just a few more flights and we'll be relatively home free! Watch out for the camera."

They all ducked under it as they passed, continuing up the stairs. Jay kept glanced back at Cole and snickering, apparently unable to stop himself. He tapped in a password at a metal door, looking apprehensive. He breathed a sigh of relief when the lock disengaged. "Okay, good thing they haven't locked me out yet. Through here!"

When Cole and Keala passed by him, he snickered.

"Oh shut it, blabbermouth." Cole grumbled, smacking him in the stomach as he went by.

"Oowwwww, ruuuude."

"You deserved it." Nya grinned, grabbing his hand as she went by, the last person to do so.

"So you're on his side then?"

"Nope! Yours."

"Less chitchat, more getting out of here, please!" Lloyd grinned. "You did deserve that though."

"Did not!" He pulled Nya down the large hall, casually shocking two guards by the front doors. "And here we go, walking out of the front doors like we own the place!"

"YOU THERE! FREEZE!" Someone yelled behind them/

"Or not."

"RUN!" Lloyd yelled, pushing open the doors into the sunshine.

"It burns us precious!" Cried Jay with a yelp.

"Glad to see you're getting your sense of humor back," Nya commented, following Lloyd to the edge of the grounds.

"Oh, it's just the adrenaline talking. Give me an hour and I'll have returned to my less funny self."

"I like funny Jay."

"Well then in that case, never mind what I just said." Jay smiled at her, climbing over the large gate and dropping down to the other side.

Once everyone else was safely outside palace grounds, Lloyd led the way to lose their pursuers and regain their freedom.

They had won, and yet, they had still lost. Kai was gone, and who knew if he would be able to come back.

* * *

**Tell me what you though in the comments! What are your thoughts on the new elementals? How did those powers come back? Do you think Kai will be able to come back? Any and all thoughts would be greatly appreciated!**


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